Skip to main content

What a Relief!

I posted last week about the Ancient Egyptian Relief that Dawson was making. This relief was a really great all-week project. It was so cool that I wanted to repost it with step-by-step instructions and pictures.

First you mix Plaster of Paris, according to the instructions. We made two batches. Pour the creamy plaster into a shoe box lid sprayed generously with cooking spray.


Use any type of carving tool you would like. We had actual clay carving tools that came with our Sculpey clay. But, a toothpick or a nail would work just fine. Start carving as soon as the plaster starts to harden up. The harder it gets, the harder it is to carve. {Dawson learned that the hard way.} Just keep testing it to see how hard it is. It dried much faster than the instructions said it would.


Carve in a picture of your choice. Dawson carved Osiris that he copied out of Ancient Egyptian Drawing Book by Ralph Masiello. We checked this book out of the library. Just carve it as though you are "drawing" the outlines of a picture you are going to color with crayons.


When you are done carving, brush off the excess plaster to make it as smooth as possible.

Let it dry overnight.

The next day use any kind of sandpaper, cut into small squares, and sand all around the outer outline. The deeper you sand, the more your Relief will be raised. Brush away residue as you work. When it is raised to your liking, put it aside until the next day.


On day 3, boil some tea bags to make really strong tea. Use a sponge brush and stain your relief with the tea so it looks antiqued.


Let it dry completely overnight. Then on the final day paint it with vibrant colors. Don't forget to go over all of your carving lines with black paint to make it stand out.


Take off the shoebox.

Dawson added hieroglyphics to his Relief. It says, "Osiris".


Very cool.

Comments

  1. Thanks for using my book for this project.
    I love it!
    -Ralph Masiello

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

We all know that in this crazy world of homeschooling, we need all the (adult) support we can get. Please leave a comment if you so wish!

Popular posts from this blog

Cells ~ It's What's for Dinner

Dawson made edible cells on Friday. He made an animal cell pizza ... and a plant cell chocolate chip cookie ... He reviewed what he's learned about cells the past two weeks, and I had dinner made by someone else. Win, win!! I am linking up at Science Sunday at Adventures in Mommydom.

A New Year, the Same Me

Happy 2019! It is that day of the year where everybody is up extra early starting their new exercise routine, eating only healthy foods, cracking open the pages of a new planner and Bible study, and debuting their Word for the year. You chuckle or roll your eyes, but you are doing at least three of these things. By the way, so am I. So let's start with the Word of the Year. Mine this year is Lagom. It's the Swedish word for "not too little, not too much, just right". It's a concept of being, doing or having just enough. So let's rewind to last New Year's Day. My Word was Might. And that's how I planned to tackle my year. And, I did. I worked out hard, I mommed hard, I traveled hard, I worked hard. And it was a good season. It prepared the way for this year. I accepted the Challenge I set for myself and succeeded. But, I don't need to keep up that pace. I am at a place in my life where I can kind of sit back and enjoy my life without f...

Science Sunday ~ Hmmm ... Let Me Think About It!

This week in our study of the Human Body , Brynne moved on to the Nervous System . Our first stop was a Pamela Hill Nettleton book called, Think, Think, Think: Learning About Your Brain . As part of our discussions about the brain , and the fact that it's the BOSS of the body, we discussed the importance of the spinal cord . We did a hands on spinal cord project by alternating gummy Life Savers and wagon wheel pasta on a pipe cleaner. We talked about why there was the "squishy" stuff in between the vertebra and how the back can bend and sway because of it. We completed "The Brynne" by adding the stomach, small intestine and large intestine, from our study last week of the Digestive System (although I just realized I have the large intestine coming out of the stomach, when the small intestine should be) and the brain and spinal cord. We are now done talking about the parts of the body and will conclude our study of the Human Body with a two-day unit ...