BambooZoo 

Starting out, I found self drying non-toxic clay. I could not cook clay to dry because the stems had to be placed before drying, and it would melt the stems and plant. I only found one that was non toxic and self drying called Mexican Pottery Clay. I bought my choice of plant bundle (Hobby lobby and Michaels has many to choose from, and carries the clay too.)  I also needed wire cutting scissors, needle nose pliers, water and something to cut a chunk of clay off. A butter knife worked fine. I also used tinfoil to work on.

I cut the branches to a desired length using the wire cutting scissors, even making them all different lengths for a more layered look.

I then used the needle nose pliers to fold a hook at each end of the stem so the clay grabs the stem. (If the plastic end came loose I just cut it flush.)

Cutting off the amount of clay for the base using a butter knife, this can be done to any size desired. (I kept mine small so I didn’t have a fitting issue in my tank.) Shaping the clay with water is messy, it helps give you a smooth texture.

Here is what mine looks like after molding the stem into the clay. I just pushed the stem into the clay covering the hooks, making sure not to let them poke out from the other side. The clay needs to be thick enough so it can cover the hook. Water is most important to blend out any cracks and pushing the clay as close to the stem as possible, and smoothing it out. (Let dry, I waited 48 hours. Once dried, I had to chip away any loose clay that might fall off with my finger nails.)

This is where everything got interesting and I had to rework things with the black spray paint. I started out with Krylon spray paints. The brown has finished nicely and I had no problems with it what so ever. The black would not set up properly. I even finished with the sealant and found it did not take to the clay. (Some Krylon spray paints might not take to the hardened clay. Some will.) After finding out the black had not set up properly, I switched to a regular paint you brush on. (The black layer just pulled right off, no damage was made to the hardened clay.) The paint I switched to was a regular brush on paint, non-toxic paint found in kits you use for paint by numbers. (You can buy the paint separate.) I also had switched my sealant, I first found a water proof Polyurethane. I did not like the odor it left behind, I then went back to the store looking for something gentler. (I did not find everything I was hoping for the first shopping trip. I would not use the Polyurethane again, if I had found the sealant I am now working with that is much better I don’t think I would have even tried the Polyurethane.)

This is a much nicer sealant (also water resistant) with much less odor left behind. All Krylon spray paints and sealants are non-toxic once dry. I just didn’t care for the polyurethane sealant.

Here is my finished brown base plant. I got this one start to finish with no problems after switching the sealant. (I did have to touch up with sealant around where the tape was covering the stem with a paint brush, I just sprayed the sealant into a dish and dabbed it on the brush.)

These are the hand painted batch. They turned out a lot better than the spray painted plant. I dabbed different colors on with a brush and got a more marble look. After painted to my liking, then using the same safer water resistant sealant for finish.

 

When I started this project I had many thought ideas. I knew Styrofoam was too light and would not be strong enough to support the plant from falling over. I could not use oven bake clay because of melting issues. The only other idea was a plaster, I did not go that route because molding and drying would have had a much bigger challenge. I decided to make my own plants because all the plants for reptiles at the pet stores were never to my liking or way over portioned in size. I also had trouble finding any type of colored leaves I cared for.