World's Biggest Acorn

Dear Reader,

An early draft involved home-made play-dough; unfortunately I went a little light on the salt and the rot set in, literally that is. So much so, that the acorn to the right was thrown out when it developed into a fungus-infested mess.


The final model was based on papier mache over masking tape, over crushed paper, over plant pots, and it looked pretty. Really pretty (the doughnut on the left would soon be the top).

So we moved to casting, where early efforts met with inauspicious reults.













The solution was obvious; enlist the help of an expert.

Enter Jeana, potter extraordinaire! (check out J Clay Pottery). Of course when you bring in an expert you learn all sorts of interesting facts, like clay shrinks up to 20% by the end of the second firing!

So while the Aliens oversaw progress on the second of Jeana's two graciously thrown oversized oversized acorns (the second oversize being 20% bigger than our model oversize), I was left wondering if we could indeed still make a scale cast of our prized model.



Then, while working on the water for the shower, it hit me. Look carefully at that baby lion's head from which the water spurts ... it's made of plaster of paris on gauze! Strength without shrinkage!

Finally, we have two perfect replica molds. Wish me luck as I fill them with pulpy papier mache :)

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

P.S. Why the effort to make oversized acorns? To pack the Squirrel King squirrel kits, of course!