Home is Where the Hearthstone Is

I made this World of Warcraft hearthstone plaque for my husband.  It was a pretty simple project involving creating a one-time mold using modeling clay and hardware store plaster.  Once it was set, I used a blue fabric paint to color the jewel-tone engraving.  I plan to make more but each will be slightly different due to the modeling clay molding process.  Check out the instructions and make one of your very own!

Recessed Hangers for Poured Plaster Pieces

This is a simple method for creating a recessed mounting system for flat-back plaster objects.  The resultant hangers will allow the objects to hang flat against a wall.  Hanging wire is embedded in modeling clay before being pressed into wet plaster.  The clay is later removed and the result is a cavity with a recessed hanging wire to accommodate nails or other hanging assemblies.

I used this technique in my World of Warcraft Hearthstone Plaque and Chalkboard Conversation Heart.

image not found

You Need:

Modeling Clay*
Wire for Hanging (non-rusting like copper or aluminum; sized to hold the weight of your finished product)
Plaster mold
Plaster - mixed as directed

*This MUST be traditional modeling clay or Plasticine, not Play-Doh or similar play clays.  Play-Doh is water-based.  It tends to absorb moisture out of the plaster and turn into a big, gooey mess that can't be pulled out of the cavity easily.

Sizing

Decide how deep you want the cavity to be.  You probably don't want the cavity to be any deeper than half the full depth of the object.

Determine how wide you want the cavity to be.  It should be fairly wide, allowing you to center the object when it hangs.  This is especially important with unsymmetrical objects because you won't know where the center of gravity might be.  Add an extra inch or more (depending on the size of your object) to this width and cut your wire to length.

The cavity should also be sufficiently tall, so the object hangs off the wire, not the top of the cavity.

Create The Hanger

 

Next you simply need to embed your wire in clay that fits the dimensions of the cavity in which the wire will be placed.  Make sure your wire ends are poking out.  I like to curl or bend these so the plaster "grips" it better.

Installation

Pour your plaster piece, tap out air bubble and immediately place this assembly in the back, roughly centered vertically and above the center horizontally in the thickest section you can find. Make sure you embed the wire edges in the plaster.

  

Once the object has set, use toothpicks or other tools to dig out the clay. Finish the piece as you'd like and hang from your wire.

Chalkboard Conversation Heart

I recently posted this Chalkboard Conversation Heart project on Instructables.  This wall hanging is poured plaster molded using a combination of craft foam and modeling clay.  The link to the project, including step-by-step directions, is here.

A few years ago, I made custom conversation heart candies following the directions from Evil Mad Scientist.  The process was fun.  I put some engineering and trade terms on the hearts for a good laugh.  This year, in keeping with the conversation hearts Valentine tradition, I wanted to make a large sign (or several) that looked like the candy.

Plaster seemed to be the perfect medium for my project because I wanted to make the hearts nice and thick without having to resort to cutting intricate designs out of a huge chunk of wood.  Once I had resolved to pour plaster, I set out to find the perfect mold.  I had no luck.  Soap molds, cooking molds, etc. all had some kind of weird lip or edge.  I even considered using a box from Valentine's chocolates but none of them was exactly right (for which my waistband is grateful).


 I've created temporary molds before, usually destroying the mold in the process.  However, this was the first time I've tried to construct one out of craft foam and I hoped that the mold could be reused.  The foam surface, I reasoned, would give a nice matte finish to the plaster and that was the ideal surface finish on which to use a gritty chalkboard paint.  Modeling  clay was used to temporarily "mortar" the pieces together and the mold seemed fairly solid.  I just had to make sure I used plenty of clay and pressed it around the edges well to seal he gaps.  As you can see, the mold worked!

Originally, I intended to simply paint my heart and stamp a phrase onto it.  However, I wasn't sure what message to use.  I wanted to be trendy but I also didn't want to have to repaint it every year to keep it modern.  So I decided to use colored chalkboard paint which would allow me to add new phrases anytime I wanted.  Thanks to Martha Stewart's instructions for custom colored chalkboard paint, I was able to create a durable finish with a small bottle of acrylic craft paint and some tile grout.

For full details, including pictures, please visit my Chalkboard Conversation Heart Instructable.