DIY crafts from real coral. Homemade corals
We can then use this technology for many of our ideas!
This original way, invented by Amanda, using very inexpensive materials, easy to perform and, most importantly, you don’t have to worry about how the coral was assembled :)
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And it is used to create this artificial coral - cellulose papier-mâché .
You can, of course, buy this dry composition simply in the store. But on this page we will learn how to do it ourselves. Used for this composition primarily toilet paper.
Unroll about half a roll of soft toilet paper and place in a bowl and soak in hot water.
Once the paper has swelled, which may only take a few minutes, drain the water and begin tearing the paper pulp into small pieces.
Now add 3/4 cup of flour to this loose mass, mix well, you can use your mixer for this. The flour itself is already a paste, and if you add a little talc (baby powder) to it, then these two masses will combine perfectly with each other. Some people add PVA glue to this mass, but Amanda believes that the glue makes the mass less loose, and to create a porous coral, we need a loose mass. Well, your homemade papier-mâché is ready!
Now let's get started frame:
Suitable for this floral wire, preferably larger in diameter.. A stronger construction wire is ideal for this. But in in this case floral design was used in several layers.
In order for the papier-mâché mass to connect to the frame, the frame must first be covered with paper soaked in PVA glue or covered with paper construction tape.
We begin to cover our workpiece with the prepared mass.
If you want a large coral, then the mass is applied to it in several stages with intermediate drying. Do not try to smooth the mass, otherwise you will end up with a branch instead of coral. To speed up the drying of each layer, place the workpiece close to the radiator. The last semi-dry layer should be poked with a wooden skewer, making indentations to imitate the natural pores of the coral.
When your sculpture is completely dry, you can cover it with either a liquid gypsum solution, or PVA glue, or structural paste, construction or furniture putty, or simply acrylic paint and fixing this layer acrylic varnish., or you can grease it with PVA glue and roll it in coarse salt. It all depends on what appearance You want to achieve - either aged by time and waters, or “freshly pulled out”, or dried in the sun, or with the artistic decor of a master. It all depends on your plan and imagination.
Don’t be afraid to experiment, because this is the only way you can develop your own style. Good luck with your experiments and thank you for your attention! :)
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My sea cake made from mastic
How to decorate a mastic cake? You can make a Sea Cake! Its main decoration is edible corals. To make corals for a cake from fondant you will need either purchased mastic to make figurines, or you can make your own mastic from marshmallows (recipe with photo). You need to make corals from mastic in advance, since it will take several hours for them to dry and not lose their shape later. Homemade mastic from condensed milk is not suitable for making corals, but you can use it to cover a cake and make simple figures, like fish or pebbles for a sea cake, for example.
Corals step by step!
How to make corals from mastic with your own hands - master class with photos:
I took courses from Galina Krasko!
Decide on a color. Corals can be made either white or any other color. It looks best on the cake if there are both colored and white corals.
Knead the mastic. To make coral look natural, use food coloring to make two pieces of different colors and place them together.
Roll the resulting sausage.
Roll out
Roll into a thin cake (2-3-4 millimeters is possible, 3 is best). Give - cut out the shape of the future coral. Please note that the coral should not be made in the same shape as mine, but with a wide base! I really wanted to make it “like the real thing”, it looked gorgeous, but this option is suitable if you do not plan to transport the cake. If you transport it, the thin “shoots” may break off!
Cover part of the coral with film to prevent it from drying out prematurely!
Lay out the sugar mastic corals, giving them the shape you want. Any semicircular surface will do - cups, glasses, bottles...
Here in the photo I have the “correct” coral - with a base (no need to make a hole at the very bottom), of good shape. This one is not afraid of “moving” a mastic cake.
Leave them to dry for several hours, ideally overnight. Then simply insert into the cake (the corals are inserted directly into the fondant coating).
DIY mastic corals are ready!
And a few more little tips, how to make a sea cake from mastic:
Just like you made coral out of fondant, you can make a “marbled” topping out of fondant for a cake!
To make sea grass, roll out a strip of mastic, cut it into two parts with a zigzag. Twist the strips to create a sharp tip. Dry - then use the tip to weed - mastic seaweed is easy to stick into the mastic coating of the cake!
You can use mastic to make fish and shells for decoration. Seashells are made using silicone molds. If you wish, you can make it yourself. Below is a link to a master class on making filicon molds with your own hands.
Mastic cake Fungus
Master classes with photos and step-by-step recipes
Anyone who has ever seen corals in a sun-drenched lagoon of a tropical sea or in the ultramarine depths of Sharm El-Sheikh will forever retain the first impression - this is a real underwater paradise. Not all corals are equally attractive: there are reefs that are modestly colored, there are bright thickets, but together they form a wonderful underwater forest. I would like to take a couple of twigs from such a “forest” as a souvenir. This is not always possible, and it’s a shame to spoil the deep-sea landscape. I offer you an old, half-forgotten method of “growing” corals at home.
A ladle and a saucepan, preferably steel, and not aluminum or enameled (it is easy to remove paraffin residue from steel).
Small paraffin candles or cinders white. Once melted, they can be painted any color.
Oil paints in tubes, or food colorings.
Branches from any tree that have many raised buds and small knots - so the coral with its rough texture and shoots will form more naturally from the very beginning than, say, on a smooth twig.
Progress
We remove small candles in aluminum trays from the wick and from the tray. These candles are very convenient because the short wick can be easily pulled out of the candle and does not interfere with work. White candle stubs are also an option, but then you will have to catch the wick threads from the paraffin during melting. Paraffin should not be melted over an open fire or on hob. Its vapors are highly flammable; in addition, paraffin, melted at high temperature, becomes too liquid and does not stick to the branch. So it is best to melt candles in a water bath: it is safe and creates a liquid temperature that is comfortable for work. Fill the saucepan with water, check if there is too much of it by inserting a ladle with paraffin into the filled saucepan. Excess water is poured out. We can start. As soon as the candles have melted by more than half, you can remove the ladle from the water bath and begin “growing coral.” First, add a small drop of paint and knead a little. For me it was first ultramarine paint (for one branch), and then light green (for the second branch). I made the red coral branch in a separate saucepan. We place the branch over a container with paraffin and water, water, water, not forgetting to rotate the branch from time to time. At first it seems that nothing is happening, that the paraffin simply flows off, leaving no traces. But after just a couple of minutes, interesting stalactites and streaks begin to emerge. The coral is formed, almost as it happens in nature. Only the material is different))) and the process proceeds hundreds of times faster!
We continue to water the branch, even when the paraffin begins to harden, forming ice crystals. This way we get a characteristic rough surface with pointed processes, in contrast to the initial smooth ridges. The entire “growing” process takes 5-7 minutes.
We leave the finished coral branch to cool by sticking it into a bottle or vase and proceed to the next branch, adding brighter paint to the paraffin. I made turquoise coral, bluish green and pinkish red. You can make compositions from small twigs using shells, pebbles and glass beads for the aquarium.
Bright corals seem to glow from within. It’s hard to believe that they are not real, but artificial, “grown” on own kitchen from leftovers paraffin candles! Try it! Making corals brings great aesthetic pleasure!
Tip: Remaining paraffin should not be poured into the sink or toilet. Let them set, then heat them slightly and remove them whole. Paraffin will also come in handy for other crafts!
After spending a vacation at sea, there is a desire to surround yourself with something... nautical style. Shells, starfish, corals, pearls, amber, sand poured into various containers...interiors in a marine style are often decorated with “sea treasures” brought from the sea, purchased at a resort or made with your own hands. In any room, photographs or paintings with a marine theme can hang on the walls. All this allows us not to forget about a happy and relaxing holiday for a long time. If you already have topiaries made of shells or paintings with frames made of driftwood in your interior, I suggest you complement the compositions with homemade corals made of wire and papier mache or a sea sponge made from masking adhesive tape
We watch master classes and get inspired to get creative in decorating the interior in a nautical style) And to make your work more fun, I suggest you watch some interesting film. On the website for film fans, in the online cinema kinoak.ru, you can watch watch movies online in excellent quality, without registration. There are films of absolutely any genre, for a wide range of age categories. The best films of all times, thrillers, comedies, horrors, dramas and melodramas, historical films, science fiction, TV series, TV shows and much more - in the online cinema you will find everything for a pleasant pastime and cheering up all members of your family)
To create a sea sponge we will need masking tape and scissors. Cut the ribbon into strips
We take cardboard or a board for the base and draw a circle on it along which we will “collect” our sea sponge
We twist the strips of tape into tubes, and our sea miracle will consist of them.
Place the tubes close to each other 
Row by row we form a sea sponge 
Like this. It can be used as a night light, lampshade for a table lamp
To create corals we will need wire, half a roll of toilet paper, PVA glue, 3/4 cup flour, paper tape, talc or PVA glue
Soak toilet paper in hot water
Add flour to the softened toilet paper and mix it well. Add talc or PVA glue, whichever is more convenient for work) From the wire we form the base for the coral
We wrap the wire base with paper tape and sculpt our finished papier mache onto it
If you want to make a large coral, then papier mache needs to be applied several times, with intermediate drying. Don't try to smooth the mass if you don't want to end up with a regular branch. The final semi-dry layer must be poked with a wooden skewer, thereby making indentations that imitate the natural pores of coral. After the sculpture has completely dried, you can cover it with PVA glue and roll it in coarse salt. You can also use a liquid gypsum solution, structural paste, furniture or construction putty for coating, acrylic paint with fixing this layer with a special acrylic varnish. Here everything will depend on the desired result - you can create a coral aged by time and water, freshly cut or dried in the sun
Based on materials houserevivals.blogspot.com/2012/06/how-to-make-faux-coral.html
Making corals with your own hands
This is what I need. For marine theme There's not enough coral, there's even a dry seahorse!
Easy-to-use creation technology original decor for the interior - artificial corals from inexpensive materials.
required:
3/4 cup flour
Talc (baby powder) or PVA glue
Hot water+ bowl
Floral wire for creating a frame
Construction paper tape
PVA glue
Wooden skewer
Process
Unroll about half a roll of soft toilet paper and soak in a bowl of hot water(Figure 1-2).
After a couple of minutes, when the paper has swelled, drain the water and tear the resulting paper mass into small pieces.
After this, you need to add 3/4 cup of flour to this loose mass and mix thoroughly, for which you can use a mixer (Figure 3). The flour itself is already a paste, and you also need to add a little talc (baby powder) to it. Some people add PVA glue to this mass, but the author of this MK believes that due to the glue the mass may not become so loose.
Floral wire larger in diameter is perfect for creating a frame. The wire needs to be twisted into several layers and given the shape of branches (Figure 4).
Start covering the workpiece with the prepared mass (Fig. 6).
If you want to get a large coral, then the mass must be applied to it several times with intermediate drying. Do not try to smooth the mass - you will end up with an ordinary branch. The final semi-dry layer must be poked with a wooden skewer, thereby making indentations that imitate the natural pores of coral.
After the sculpture has completely dried, you can cover it with PVA glue and roll it in coarse salt. You can also use a liquid gypsum solution, structural paste, furniture or construction putty, acrylic paint for coating and fix this layer with a special acrylic varnish. Here everything will depend on the desired result - you can create a coral aged by time and water, freshly cut or dried in the sun. Everything will depend only on your imagination.