This winter I’m casting a lot of dahlia flowers to put on iron bars in the garden. I’m casting them using self-levelling compound, not concrete because concrete is too rough for this. The disadvantage of this, however, is that the flowers become more fragile and must be handled more carefully.
I’m using silicone moulds and I have bought several of these to make the process more time efficient. When I have filled and vibrated out the air bubbles, I’m putting in a oiled nylon stick in the wet compound to make the hole for the iron bar.
When the dahlias have hardened I remove the stick and the mould and then I grind the bottom of the flower by just rubbing it on a concrete stone. Fast and easy!
When the dahlia flowers have cured for a week or two it’s time to put on the first colour coat. This has always been a tedious job doing by hand. Now I wanted to try something else. I bought an airbrush and started painting. I also made a small turntable to make it easier to paint, and I also needed a stand for the airbrush. What a upgrade, this is working great! I also made a lifting tool to lift the flower off the turntable when painted.
Because I’m inside when painting I really needed an exhaust for this, airbrushing spreads a lot of paint particles everywhere! I already had a suitable fan for this but needed an adjustable arm and a funnel. After some thinking I got a brilliant idea. I went up to the attic and fetched an old desk lamp we had left over. I cut off the upper part of the lamp-shade and removed the lamp and then rebuilt it to fit the exhaust hose. We made a hole in the wall and mounted the fan. Now I have an exhaust that works great and I can adjust the funnel as I want. I’m so satisfied with this invention!
The next step is to paint metallic colours on them in several layers and shades to get them looking something like this.
When all the paint has dried I will put on some layers of clear varnish before they are finished. This will be made outside during spring because I use a solvent-based spray varnish for this, and it stinks!
/Monica
They turned out so beautiful! Great job!
They look so delicate and pretty!
did you make the molds or buy them? If bought, from where? What is the diameter of the flowers. They are absolutely gorgeous! Well done.
I adore these flowers! I have bought the molds from Aliexpress, just search for “silicone dahlia mold” and you will find them. The dahlia flower is about 9 cm in diameter.
Beautiful
You are so clever and creative, they look amazing.
So Cute!
Absolutely beautiful!
They look fantastic, so clever. Can’t wait to see them in garden.
WOW , what can I say absolutely fantastic flowers
Such a talented lady
Wow such an awesome job x
These are beautiful. Your so talented.
This is exactly what i need in my flower bed! Everytime I plant a flower, the critters eat it over night, I’m talking mice and rats. We live in the country in Arizona
I love these! Thanks for sharing.
Can I see some of your Dahlia flower castings ???? I live near Los Angeles, California, USA.
If you mean in real life, I’m sorry, that’s not possible because I live way too far away!
These are awesome! What kind of paint do you use in the airbrush sprayer?
I use DecoArt Patio Paint outdoor for the first layer. To add the shiny colors and shades, I use DecoArt´s Pearls, Extreme Sheen Metallic and Dazzling Metallics.
To be able to use these paints in the airbrush, I use Liquitex professional airbrush medium in the ratio 1:1.
This works really well and I’m so satisfied with the result.
Thank you!
You are amazing! So much talent in one place. I love all of your crafting ideas.