DIY Christmas toys made from polyurethane foam. Garden figures made of polyurethane foam

I found an interesting site where people post their creative works. What's not there? And food and decorations and furniture. But before you find something worthwhile, you need to dig around. And the site is in English. On the eve of the New Year I found it on
Here are instructions for creating a snowman to decorate your yard for the Christmas holidays. It is not simple, not made of snow, but all-season.
Here is my free translation of a master class on making a snowman. Website .
I've only seen snow a few times in my life. This is because I live in Florida and anyone who has ever been here knows that we don't have much of it. Or not at all. This means that I never took part in such children's activities as sledding, snowball fights and building a snowman. (Although I recently went ice skating!).
This year I decided to make a melting snowman for the front yard - Christmas decor.
I needed to find some material suitable for open areas, so I immediately rejected the idea of a papier-mâché snowman. (Although if you want to make indoor Christmas decorations, this method is cheaper.

I used the following materials to make the snowman, although you can substitute or omit some. Everything I bought was from Walmart and Dollar tree.

3 balls different sizes(large, medium, and small)
-Spray paint (I used blue, orange, and white),
-Shine
-Black buttons/pebbles (I used those sold in florist shops for decoration),
- Expanding polyurethane foam
- Cone (for carrots) (Used for flower arrangements)
- Red ribbon
- Two branches for hands
- Hat (carnival)

The first step is collecting the base. If you don't want to spend forever scrubbing foam off your garage floor, I suggest laying it on the floor large leaf cardboard Also keep in mind that foam cannot be wiped off from clothes, so wear something you don’t mind ruining.
Start with a large sword - place it on the cardboard. It will stay in place if you attach it to the cardboard using double-sided tape. Make the base of your snowman using polyurethane foam. It's easier to work by starting to make a snowman from the base.
You don't have to perfect everything at once. You can return to the first layer after the foam has dried. It expands when it dries and appearance snowman may change. After you have thoroughly strengthened the first ball. you can move on to the other two.
Place two others on top of the first ball and secure them with tape to prevent them from moving.
Foam the joints of the balls. After the foam has dried, you can remove the tape. Or use double-sided tape.

After the base has dried, you can proceed to further steps. Add some foam to the balloons to create a melting snowman effect. Attach your arms. To do this, attach them to the balls with tape and foam the top so that the tape is not visible.
If you want to smooth out the foam a little, use a spatula.

Now comes the fun part of the project! Snowman coloring time! Start creating. There are no clear instructions for painting with spray paint. But I can give some tips to achieve best result.
* Start with dark paint first and then move on to light paint.
The right one white It will be quite difficult to achieve if the top is covered in places with dark paint. Therefore, you first need to cover the entire surface with dark paint, in my case it was blue. Don't let it show yellow color foam.
*Lighten the right places lighter paint.
You need to cover with white paint the places that in your opinion should be light.
I also added a little glitter. It's Christmas! Everything should glow!
I also wanted to attach a flashing LED display to the snowman with wishes for a Happy New Year, but I couldn’t figure out how to do it without piercing the balls.

Nose
It's just part of a cone painted orange. I used a cool gun to attach it to the ball.
The buttons/eyes/mouth are just black pebbles that fit the shape.
They are sold in florist shops.
Instead of pebbles for the mouth, I would use a twig. It would be more elegant.
We put a hat with a red ribbon or a bucket on the snowman and the snowman is ready.

A dacha is a place where we relax and enjoy life. But decorations for the garden and yard cost a lot of money. Therefore, some owners make crafts from polyurethane foam, which are in no way inferior to expensive figurines made of plastic, metal and wood.

In order to decorate your garden plot, you do not need to complete art courses and have “golden hands”. A small set of tools, a little diligence and abstract thinking will allow you to acquire gnomes, frogs, sheep and Christmas trees from quite affordable material.

DIY technology for making figures from construction foam

First things first, you need to stock up necessary materials and tools. This will determine how high quality and quickly the manufacturing process goes:

For the frame of the product, plastic bottles filled with sand, boards, metal objects and thick wire. Even an ordinary brick can become the basis for a future mushroom on your site!
Polyurethane foam.
Gun for polyurethane foam.
Gun cleaner.
If you plan to grow flowers in a sculpture, then you need to mount some kind of container in the center of it, such as a bucket, tin can or the same plastic bottle.
Varnish, paint and brushes for them.
Stationery or other knife.

The process of creating garden figures itself consists of two alternating processes. First, apply foam to the base and let it harden a little. Then we apply it again and so on until we get closer to the shape we need.

After this the usual stationery knife excess protrusions are removed, the sculpture acquires its finished shape and can be coated with paint. The entire work can take from an hour to several days, depending on the size of the figure and the thickness of the applied layer. It is advisable to do all this in a separate dry room, where there is no excess dust and children do not run around.. Otherwise, you will have to wash off the extremely sticky substance, which is polyurethane foam, with gasoline or acetone.

Sculptures and garden products

Below are a few examples of different figures that even a beginner can create on their site. The main thing is to strictly follow the sequence of all operations. And in a few hours you will definitely feel like a real creator, from whose hands comes an excellent decoration for summer cottage!

Details about crafts from tin cans read .

Christmas tree

Making a Christmas tree from polyurethane foam is as easy as shelling pears. To do this, you need to collect twigs and attach them to an iron pipe. This can be done with tape or wire.

After this, you need to wet the workpiece with a spray bottle so that the foam “sticks” to the base more firmly.

Green acrylic paint is perfect for creating a New Year's mood using such simple things as scraps of sticks, twigs, polyurethane foam and fishing line.

You will find all the information about paths made from plastic bottle caps.

Ball

The ball is the easiest figure to make. It is recommended to start your creative experiments with it, and only then move on to more complex decorations and sculptures.

Take a paint can and fill it with sand;
Layer by layer we apply polyurethane foam;
Upon reaching the required size and more or less spherical shape, remove excess parts with a knife;
We coat the product with varnish;
We choose paint for our decoration depending on our preferences;
If it is a bun or the head of some animal, we make eyes, a nose and a mustache from buttons, fishing line and wire.

It is possible that you will find the material about .

Ram and ewe

Making a ram and a lamb:

First we make the frame. We take several plastic bottles and fasten them with tape. The result will be something like a “skeleton” of an animal. The lower “limbs” can be filled with sand to make the figure more stable.
Next, you can apply foam. But to save it, it is better to wrap the frame with isolon or other polymer material. The first layer of polyurethane foam - you can already roughly imagine what the end result will be!
We make ears from pieces of leather. You can also make them from plastic bottles by preheating and bending them.
We process the muzzle with a knife, carefully giving it the necessary features.
We coat the product with varnish.
We paint the eyes, mouth and other “features” of our sheep or lamb with paint!

Scheme for making a sheep.

Goat

Step by step how to make a goat:

We make a frame from thick wire, which we wrap around several plastic bottles.
As a frame for legs (bones) it is better to take metal pipes. They can be welded to a pedestal, dug into the ground, or secured with bolts. Your figurine must withstand wind and rain, so take the time to securely secure the base.
Apply one or two layers of polyurethane foam.
We make horns and a tail from wooden sticks or plastic cuts and secure them.
After applying the last layer, we cut off all excess and wrap the product with sickle or fishing line.
Cover the surface with primer and paint. You can choose any color, because it is completely your creation!
Making eyes from buttons.
We place our goat next to a pond, in a clearing, in the company of other decorations, etc.

In total, this sculpture will take one to two weeks to complete, as each layer of foam must harden. As a result, from unnecessary pipes, plastic bottles, wire scraps, other “garbage” and several cans of polyurethane foam, you get an excellent decoration for your summer cottage!

What a plastic border for paths is will tell you.

Crafts for the New Year

Even with nothing on hand other than wire and a can of polyurethane foam, you can create excellent decor for the New Year. Various ornaments, Christmas decorations, simple and complex figures - all this is accessible and simple!

For example, you can make a snowflake. We take a wire of such thickness that it can be bent without effort. We make the frame of a future snowflake out of it. Carefully apply one or two layers of foam. Before it hardens, we achieve even and smooth surfaces. If something goes wrong, you can always add a little foam and cut off the protrusions with a regular stationery knife.

The Christmas ball is made even easier. The tennis ball is covered with a layer of foam. After hardening, we apply a layer of paint and decorate our New Year's toy in bright and positive colors!

A simplified version of the Christmas tree is made using cardboard or isolon, wound on a rigid base in the form of a cone. Even a child can apply several layers! We level the surface, paint it and place it in a visible place.

How to make a swan from a tire is described.

Basic rules for working with polyurethane foam

Shake the container periodically.
The ideal temperature for work is room temperature.
Polyurethane foam does not like direct sunlight. Therefore, it is necessary to work in the shade, and ready product cover with paint.
The hardening time of the foam varies depending on the manufacturer, temperature and operating speed.

Important points

The paint used to coat the finished product should not contain nitrocellulose. Otherwise, the polyurethane foam will soften and the decoration will lose its shape.
Gloves are required element work. Without them, washing your hands will take much more time than the process of making the craft itself.
Polyurethane foam is very lightweight material. Therefore, heavy objects must be placed inside any product made from it. It could be a jar of sand, plastic bottle, filled with water, an iron base, metal pipes held together with wire and other massive things.

Video: master class on garden decor

This video shows a master class on how to make crafts from construction foam:

Conclusion

You can add beauty and originality to your summer cottage without spending any money on it. big money. Crafts made from polyurethane foam are easy to make, non-toxic and can have the most different shapes. Starting from simple ball and ending with figures of animals, birds, gnomes and even people!

New Year is just around the corner and, therefore, it's time to prepare new Year gifts and decorations. Who main character V New Year's Eve?

That's right, even children know this. It's Santa Claus! And so I decided to make a figurine of Santa Claus for a child in the garden, so that it would stand on the street, on the playground. I’ll say right away that I made this sculpture last year and it has already successfully passed the test of winter, frost and children, and this year it will delight us with its presence again :)
I knew right away what I would make the figure of Santa Claus from: polyurethane foam. Firstly, it is quite inexpensive (considering the size of Moroz - 115 cm), secondly, it is fast enough, since the foam dries in 15-20 minutes and the next layer can be applied, thirdly, products made from polyurethane foam are lightweight and are not afraid of any weather conditions, with one caveat - the foam must be well insulated from sun rays and moisture. Under the influence of direct sunlight, the foam turns yellow and collapses, and if water gets inside the figurine, then in cold weather it crystallizes and the figurine can “tear”. I will tell you below in my master class how to avoid all this and make a figurine that will last for many years.
So, be patient and use a vacuum cleaner, as the work is quite dirty and dusty.
First, I found on the Internet a picture of the Frost we will make. We need general form, we will make our own details.

As a base, I took a plastic bottle that I had on hand, poured sand and stones inside for stability (in fact, I didn’t have to do this, it stands great anyway) and inserted a wooden stick from a children’s shovel on top.
The result was the frame of the future figure.

Then we take newspapers and begin to add volume to our workpiece. We fix the newspapers with paper tape.

When we have collected the required volume with newspaper, we cover the entire workpiece with craft paper on top: this will make it easier to apply foam later.
When everything is dry, we take the foam and continue to add volume to our Grandfather. When working with foam, I advise you to use gloves, since the foam is very difficult to wash off the skin and cannot be washed off clothes at all. The floor also needs to be covered with newspapers or film.
When working with foam, I use a special gun (pictured), which allows you to regulate the supply of foam and reduce its consumption. You should apply thin layers of foam: this way they will dry faster and you can apply the next layer.

We continue to apply the foam layer by layer. Try to have as few gaps and voids as possible. If you apply a lot of foam at once, then greatly increasing in volume, it becomes empty inside. And when we then cut off the excess foam, we will have to fill these holes with fresh foam.
At the bottom of the sculpture we glue cardboard and also foam it. Unfortunately, I didn’t film this moment, but I think that everything is clear. If it’s unclear, ask, I’ll be happy to answer.

Having gained the required volume on our Frost, we begin to move on to the details. We outline the face, very approximately, the place of the hat and begin to make the collar of the fur coat. To do this, take thick cardboard or, as in my case, a calendar cover, and fix it in place with masking tape. After this, we begin to apply foam to the cardboard collar.

When all areas of the figure are completely filled and look a little like Santa Claus, we take a breadboard or construction knife and begin to cut off all the excess. Knife blades must be sharp to make clean cuts. Foam dulls them very quickly and therefore they need to be changed quite often. If suddenly we cut off too much or didn’t like something, we can always increase the volume again and cut off the excess again. This work is not very fast, but very creative.

We gradually move from the general to the specific. We draw the details, paying special attention to the face of Santa Claus and his beard. Large cavities are filled with foam.

When you are satisfied with the result, you can sand the Frost sculpture a little: the foam sands beautifully.
Then we apply acrylic putty. You can apply it with a brush, but I applied it directly with my hands: it turns out much faster. We applied one layer, dried it, sanded it a little and applied the second layer. It's hard to close all the holes in the foam the first time. It is very important to isolate the foam well from direct exposure to light and water, as I said above.
We sand the second layer more carefully. We still won’t be able to achieve perfect smoothness, but we don’t need it. After painting, the irregularities on the fur coat and hat look like scribble. The face should be given more attention: fill all the unevenness more thoroughly with putty and sand it well. Using a toothpick, draw hairs and strands on the beard and mustache.

It's time to paint. First, I painted all of Santa Claus with white acrylic paint. Then I glued those places that should remain white masking tape. To color the fur coat and hat, I used auto enamel in a can. I didn't like it very much: enough strong smell, which takes a long time to weather and plus it takes a long time to dry. Longer than just acrylic spray paint. I usually paint with Bosco paint, which I like better.
One can of auto enamel was enough for me to cover 2 times.
The only plus of this paint: rich red-cherry color. Another important point: it did not adhere well to the white acrylic paint and became craquelure. Of course, it turned out to be original in the end, but unplanned. This has never happened with Bosco.

This is such a beautiful craquelure.

This is what Frost looks like after painting.

Now we need to embellish it a little. We take a white varnish marker, acrylic paint and a thin brush, or outlines, and begin to apply patterns to Frost’s fur coat.

Then I started painting my face. First I mixed umber + pink + Ivory and applied it to the face. I covered the mustache, beard and edges on the hat and fur coat with pearlescent silver color: it turned out to be real frost. The photo doesn't convey this, unfortunately. Then I applied a little black acrylic, diluted to water, onto the beard and mustache. I wiped off the excess with a dry cloth.

Then I drew the eyes and applied blush to the cheeks. True, I got carried away again and did not photograph the intermediate stages of the work.
When everything was dry, I covered it in several layers with aerosol acrylic varnish, Special attention focusing on the bottom.

Grandfather turned out to be quite weighty and stable and we had to take him to the garden by car :) The children were happy!

This year I plan to make a figurine of a deer and a sleigh so that grandfather can safely travel and deliver gifts to the children.

Free translation of a master class on making a snowman. .
I've only seen snow a few times in my life. This is because I live in Florida and anyone who has ever been here knows that we don't have much of it. Or not at all. This means that I never took part in such children's activities as sledding, snowball fights and building a snowman. (Although I recently went ice skating!).
This year I decided to make a melting snowman for the front yard - Christmas decor.
I needed to find some material suitable for open areas, so I immediately rejected the idea of a papier-mâché snowman. (Although if you want to make indoor Christmas decorations, this method is cheaper.

I used following materials for making a snowman, although you can replace or exclude something. Everything I bought was from Walmart and Dollar tree.

3 balls of different sizes (large, medium, and small)
-Spray paint (I used blue, orange, and white),
-Shine
-Black buttons/pebbles (I used those sold in florist shops for decoration),
- Expanding polyurethane foam
- Cone (for carrots) (Used for flower arrangements)
- Red ribbon
- Two branches for hands
- Hat (carnival)

The first step is collecting the base. If you don't want to spend forever scrubbing foam off your garage floor, I suggest laying a large sheet of cardboard on the floor. Also keep in mind that foam cannot be wiped off from clothes, so wear something you don’t mind ruining.
Start with a large sword - place it on the cardboard. It will stay in place if you attach it to the cardboard using double-sided tape. Make the base of your snowman using foam. It's easier to work by starting to make a snowman from the base.
You don't have to perfect everything at once. You can return to the first layer after the foam has dried. After all, it expands when it dries and the appearance of the snowman may change. After you have thoroughly strengthened the first ball. you can move on to the other two.
Place two others on top of the first ball and secure them with tape to prevent them from moving.
Foam the joints of the balls. After the foam has dried, you can remove the tape. Or use double-sided tape.

Now comes the fun part of the project! Snowman coloring time! Start creating. There are no clear instructions for painting with spray paint. But I can give you some tips to achieve the best result.
* Start with dark paint first and then move on to light paint.
The desired white color will be quite difficult to achieve if it is covered in places with dark paint. Therefore, you first need to cover the entire surface with dark paint, in my case it was blue. Do not allow the yellow color of the foam to show through.
*Brighten the desired areas with lighter paint.
You need to cover with white paint the places that in your opinion should be light.
I also added a little glitter. It's Christmas! Everything should glow!
I also wanted to attach a flashing LED display to the snowman with wishes for a Happy New Year, but I couldn’t figure out how to do it without piercing the balls.

Polyurethane foam – unique construction material, which is widely used for installation, sealing of structures and increasing their thermal insulation. Lovers of garden decorations have expanded the scope of application of this building material. Garden figures Every owner can easily make it from polyurethane foam with his own hands country house or a summer cottage. In this article you can see photos of finished crafts, as well as popular sculptures made from polyurethane foam.

1. Light weight.
2. Ease of use (applied to any surface, easy to cut).
3. The ability to make crafts of any size.
4. The finished product is not affected by precipitation and temperature changes.

Conditions for using polyurethane foam for garden sculptures

Conditions for using polyurethane foam for garden sculptures

If you have never worked with polyurethane foam, we recommend that you read the instructions from the manufacturer. Do not forget that the foam inside the container is a liquid mass, and when it comes into contact with air, it begins to harden. Complete hardening occurs after 10-12 hours. When working with foam, use personal protective equipment. It is not recommended to carry out work when sub-zero temperature air.

Before each use of the foam, shake the container well. While working, keep the can with the cap down so that gas does not escape from it and all the foam can be used. You should not apply many layers at once, as the uncured ones will fall off. Do everything gradually, apply the next layer at least 10-15 minutes after the previous one. For ease of application, use a special gun.

The appearance of a polyurethane foam figure directly depends on the type of frame. You should first find a picture of the figure or make a sketch so that all the nuances are taken into account and the finished product looks like a wooden or plaster sculpture.

To make the frame, you can take different materials, for example, plastic bottles or iron cans are suitable. You will also find it useful wooden planks, fittings and wire. To make the sculpture stable, you need to fill it with sand.

Now you can start decorating the craft with foam. Distribute the foam evenly over the frame, taking into account the future reliefs of the craft. When it has completely hardened, you can use a stationery knife to remove unnecessary parts and correct defects. If necessary, add foam to places where you forgot or want to correct something in the craft.

A layer of putty will help protect the mounting foam from destruction. To garden craft turned out smooth, grout sandpaper. Now take acrylic paints and cover the figure. Preferably two layers or more. To extend the service life of the future masterpiece, it is coated with varnish on top.

Garden figures can be additionally decorated with the most different materials, for example, beads, flowers or make LED backlight so that the sculpture glows at night.

In order to make a snail for the garden, you will need half a bottle of foam. Cover the table with oilcloth and begin applying foam for the base of the snail. When the first layer has dried a little, apply the second and insert a kefir bottle to make the snail's neck. Cover your neck with foam too and form a head with your hands.

Give the snail horns and a slightly elongated muzzle. After this you can start making the shell. To do this, a round mound of foam is applied to the snail's body. Now insert a bucket, which will be intended for flowers and will turn the garden craft into an original flowerbed.

Use a marker to mark where your snail shell begins and ends, and make curls. When the foam is completely dry, sand the product. All that remains is to decorate the snail and the garden craft is ready.

Materials:
- old saucepan;
- can:
- oil or acrylic paint;
- foam container;
- wire;
- beads.

1. Separately fill the pan and jar with foam and let dry.
2. The jar is the head, and the pan is the body of the frog. Fasten these parts with wire and secure with foam.

3. In the place where the frog’s arms should be, secure the wire and also cover it with foam.
4. Now shape the head and body so that they look like a frog. Make the lower legs as well.
5. Paint the craft with paints and then insert the eyes. The frog is ready, now it can be placed near a pond in the garden or near the pool.

To do garden figurine foxes, you will need a plastic bottle. Fill it with sand or pebbles, then the wind will not be able to turn your product over. Foam the bottle, but not immediately in a thick layer, but gradually, pausing for about 15 minutes for the foam to set.

You can use a rubber tube to make the paws. To make the legs flexible, insert a wire into the tube. The tail can also be made from a tube, which will need to be well foamed. For the neck, use a cardboard cylinder from under toilet paper. Install some kind of round blank for the head.

Foam everything well and give the sculpture the appearance of a fox. After that, paint the figure oil paints and varnish. Keep in mind that if the paint is white, the varnish will make it yellow.

You can use a plastic ball as the frame of the kolobok. Place it on some kind of support, such as a jar or bowl. Now apply the foam, waiting for each layer to dry. To make handles, insert wire.

Also form the scarf from foam, and you can make the ears from cardboard. When the foam is completely dry, use a utility knife to cut out the eyes, mouth and nose. Make legs from wooden planks. All that’s left is to color the craft and the bun – it’s ready!

Interestingly, from polyurethane foam you can make not only garden figures, but also an original lantern that will give your personal plot notes of exclusivity and will help decorate the garden in Japanese style. To make a lantern stand, take a pipe that needs to be foamed with bottom side and set it to level wooden base. For the lantern bowl, you can use a plastic bowl that needs to be secured on top.

Now pour the foam in layers, waiting for each layer to partially dry. Come up with a design to decorate the lantern, draw a diagram and implement the idea using polyurethane foam. You need to make a hole in the center of the bowl so that you can secure the lid with self-tapping screws. Insert the bars into the bowl and foam them.

Attach the lid to the bowl with self-tapping screws. Now cut out a smaller square from the chipboard. Foam it on one side and secure the racks on the other. In the center of the squares you need to make a hole in order to insert a lamp into it later. solar battery. Hide the wires.

After that from big piece The roof is made of plywood, which is installed on racks. To make the relief design beautiful, first draw it with a marker on the surface of the lantern, and then carefully cover it with foam.

Garden figures made of polyurethane foam master class

The finished product is completely painted. To install it, you need to dig the pipe a little into the ground or make a small flower bed around the lantern.

DIY polyurethane foam figures will help transform any garden plot. Even without the skills of a sculptor and artist, you can make a beautiful sculpture that will enliven your exterior.

polyurethane foam can also be used to decorate rooms or building facades.