Have you ever tried the craft of botanical casting before? We had the children’s hand and feet cast when they were very young but not really thought about it since. So when I saw a botanical casting kit I thought it would be a fun craft to try at home.

Botanical casting for beginners

I bought myself a casting kit to make two sweet botanical casts. Everything was provided in the kit, although you could substitute the grasses for anything out of your own garden. As it’s February and there is nothing in my garden I was more than happy to use the ones provided in the kit.

I had to substitute the clay in the kit for some new air drying clay – but my daughter was more than happy to use any of the air drying clay leftover for her own crafting. I rolled out a small amount of the clay and pressed two of the grasses into it.

I carefully pulled them out again, which left an impression of them in the clay.

The kit included a ring to shape the cast and this was laid over the clay and pressed in. Them I mixed up the plaster and poured it into the mould. It set in an hour, when I was able to remove the ring, peel away the plaster and leave it to dry overnight.

I did this process twice, the first time with two grass heads, then with two poppy seed heads. I gave each cast a light brush to remove any lose bits.

The kit included a tin of watercolours, and I used these to highlight the poppy heads and grasses. The kit even contained stands to display the casts.

Botanical casting is fun and different. I would love to try it again and see what else I could make a cast of.