Latest baby hand & feet casts - tips on hand casting

Just wanted to show you a framed set of baby hands & feet as prepared by my business partner Julie this week. The set of 4 casts have been framed in a bespoke walnut effect moulding with an engraved plate to finish it all off beautifully.


This little chap had very delicate little hands & would have posed a problem to cast due to getting tiny air bubbles in the fingers. To help you avoid this I'm listing a few tricks & tips on casting baby hands. By applying a bit of logic & considering the effect gravity has on liquids you can reduce this kind of problem to a minimum. I would say however, we do not guarantee you will get a good cast of a hand from one of our baby casting kits. Rather, do your feet first & increase your confidnece & then try hands. Practice is needed!

It is also almost impossible to get a flat hand of a small baby. They automatically close their hand into a fist & this is really a more realistic lifecast of your baby's hand at a young age.

Getting the best mould

• Wet baby's hand first. This gets them used to the temperature of the water & reduces tiny air bubbles from the surface of the hand giving a better mould. It also helps release the alginate mould once it has set.
  
• Push the hand into the moulding mixture rather than squeezing it round. This displacement again reduces the chance of the impression mix not getting in between each finger giving you a better mould
  
• Make sure fingernails are short & tidy if you can. There's nothing like a scuffed up nail on your lifecast!

Pouring the cast

• Trim the top of your mould before you pour so that you can clamp your hand over the top of the mould once it is filled with casting mixture. You are going to invert the mould several times & although it will doubtless get messy you can make it less so by tidying up the edges of the mould so it is easier to hold.
• Pour in a small amount of your casting mix. Slosh it all round & then pour out again. This helps break any surface tension on the mould surface
• Refill the mould to the top & place a piece of folded kitchen roll over the opening (this helps reduce the mess which is coming...!!) .
• Clamp your hand over the kitchen roll covered opening & shake your mould in all directions. You are trying to allow any air that is currently caught in the fingers to escape into the main space of the mould & then come up to the top as bubbles. To this end you need to shake & twist the mould in every possible direction, including fully upside down, several times.
• Once you've finished this, peel away the kitchen roll & top up the mould with casting mix. Place in an upright spot until the hand cast is set. I would leave this at least for an hour or so as soft fingers will break off more easily.
• Peel your mould away in very small pieces to avoid damaging & snapping any fingers.

Follow these tips & you stand an excellent chance of getting great results. If you do want to try casting baby hands it is recommended that you buy an 8 starter life casting kit or a baby casting kit with frame plus an additional 4 cast refill to give you the best chance for one shipping fee - £5.50 flat rate on UK mainland orders.

An aside from baby casting - Google sitemaps.

Having spent many hours trying to optimize my site on a tiny budget I though it would be useful to summarise my experiences & research on Google sitemaps & their role in SEO for those of us with limited time & knowledge.

What is a sitemap?
It’s a file which provides information about your site, mainly the name of each & every page & how often/when they were last updated. There are several formats this file can take (.xml & ROR for those in the know) but in its simplest form it is usually called sitemap.xml & is put in the root of your websites directory on your server.

You can create a sitemap.xml file using an online generator. There are many but I would recommend http://www.xml-sitemaps.com as a great one to try. Simply enter the full website address, change the date to today’s & click start. The file is then created & you can download it into an html editor or copy & paste it from the bottom of the screen & save it into a new file called sitemap.xml. This then needs saving onto the root directory of your website on your server. You need to update your sitemap.xml file each time you update a page on your site & upload it again.

Are Google sitemaps different to other sitemaps?
No, Google accepts any standard sitemap.xml file & will find it when it crawls your site. I would recommend registering your sitemap with Google (& Yahoo) as this gives speeds up the initial crawl on your site if you aren’t getting any at the moment (or if you don’t know if you’re being Googled!)

Do I need one?
Well, some say you do & some say you don’t! A sitemap file makes it easier for a spider to crawl your site & see what has changed & what has not. Some argue this makes it more likely to be crawled more deeply, others disagree. On balance there is no disadvantage to having a sitemap & the information you can get back from registering your sitemap with Google makes it a very valuable resource for you. Google states that it does not affect your ranking & that resubmitting on a regular basis also has no effect but this is disputed by some (including myself!).

How do I register a sitemap with Google?
You need to set up a Google account which you can do via www.google.com (there are no region specific accounts for .co.uk etc) & then clicking ‘sign in’. If you have a gmail account you can login, if not, create a new account at this point.

Once registered, you can sign in & look at ‘My account’ where there is a ‘webmaster tools’ section for you to follow for submitting your site URL & then the name of your sitemap. Google then verifies your sitemap & that’s it. For me, the most useful reason for going through all this is the data you’ll get in a few months time on the hits on your site, top search terms & your rankings in Google for those terms, any page errors, internal & external back links & how many pages you have listed on Google. All very valuable & completely free for a small amount of work!

Clearly this is a huge area with much more detail but as a starting point the above will get you going. Below are a couple of other links you may find useful looking forward:

Google webmaster tips: https://www.google.com/webmasters

Info on pagerank & other google issues: http://www.mypagerank.net/

Fab post on google sitemaps: http://www.arnebrachhold.de/2006/04/07/google-sitemaps-faq-sitemap-issues-errors-and-problems

Back on track & busy - baby's are everywhere!!

Finally caught my tail after the Excel Baby Show & got most kits back on the shelf or tidied away. We had a lot of people bringing their baby's to the stan for casting & it has been a pleasure getting them ready for them to hang on the wall this week. We are offering the same service at the NEC & recommend booking in advance if you would like us to cast your baby's feet on the day as we are already busy - all advance appointments have gone for the Friday!

Aside from planning the next show we have managed to restock our inkless wipe range after a problem with our supplier. These kits are very popular as they are very easy & excellent value. With a frame, double mount,special inkless wipe & 2 sheets of treated paper they make a lovely gift for a new baby or even a baby shower present. We will be offering these frame kits with a keepsake box & piggy bank very soon so keep your eyes on the Creative Casting Baby Casting Kit Website for details.

Work is also progressing on our agent network. This is proving a more time consuming & complicated area than we first thought so do bear with us if you have expressed interest in this - we'll be in touch soon!

Back to Mum mode for now as 3pm approaches & the weekend looms. Enjoy your weekend too!

A long weekend of baby casting!!!

Back from The Baby Show & what a few days we've had!

It's always great to meet customers & their baby's face to face & we have had some fantastic feedback over the last few days right across our range of casting kits, imprint kits & clay imprint kits.

We had a new baby casting kit on the stand & it proved very popular indeed. With a more contemporary look & complete with a top quality keepsake box the frame kit below was commented on time & time again.


We will be looking to add this to the Creative Casting online shop in the next few days!

If you bought a kit at the show & have come looking for advice & tips, have a look at some of the other posts on getting a great baby cast & making copies of your baby feet casts.

Otherwise, there is a help page on our website with a series of images & tips on making your baby hand or foot mould & cast. Failing that, give us a call - number on our contact us page!

We hope everyone who took away a Creative Casting baby casting kit last weekend has a great time making their hand or feet casts & we are pleased to be here to help!

The Baby Show is coming! 9-11 March

Preparations for the new Baby Show event at Excel, London are now in the final stages here. We will be exhibiting on stand E34 & have some great offers on our casting kits & frames.

Demonstrations of how to make a life cast of your baby's hand or foot will be done by myself on an hourly basis & if you would like us to cast your baby's feet we will be offering this service at the show with prices from £85.

This of course means we are very busy in the office & it's all hands on deck! Even Mum's are roped in this week - how do we do without them. If you need to treat your Mum then what about giving them a cast of your children's feet or hands as a unique & memorable gift??


Specially for those Dad's out ther who are struggling for an unusual gift we have a casting kit in a beautiful white keepsake box - see our website for details!

Baby casting - more feet from just one cast, is it possible??

This is a question I am asked many times so thought I would make it

February's tip - Recasting from a plaster positive using alginate.

The answer of course is sometimes and no, I can't guarantee you'll succeed. There is also a real chance of damaging the original cast so be warned!! For more general tips on taking a mould from baby you should take a look at our taking a baby cast page on our baby casting website.

The basic problem is that the cast doesn't flex like a baby's foot so how can you minimise the risks. What advice would I give to someone who wants to take copies of the lovely cast they have of baby's foot?

1. Try not to use the only good cast you have if at all possible. Try to get 2 good feet from each foot & then you still have a good pair should you break the cast trying to remould it.
2. Clean up the cast first. Remove any bubbles on the plaster surface which need knocking off with your fingernail or a cocktail stick. If you have a lot of ankle on the cast, leave it on for now as it will give you something to hold when remoulding.
3. Do not try to recast a hand or a foot with toes that are sticking out individually. They are very likely to be broken off if you recast them using the alginate/impression powder. Closely bunched toes are the easiest option.

The easiest way to recast is to use the impression powder you already have but that remould tends to be rather inflexible & can only be used once as before. It is however still the way many home casters will go so is the method I'll explain now.

• Take the foot to be remoulded & place it in a bowl of hot water for 5 mins. This allows it to soak up the water & should stop the alginate mixture from sticking to it. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT!!! If you do not soak the cast before putting it into the alginate mix you will not get it out again!
• Mix a runny & therefore softer batch of impression mix by adding a bit more water than the instructions suggest. This makes the mould easier to remove from the cast as it will be more flexible.
• Remove the mould as soon as possible after it has set. You may have to split the mould from the top of the foot to the toes to allow you to wriggle it loose. Be very careful to allow the air to release the vacuum from around all the toes before you go for the final pull out as this will help release them.

If you want to go for a more technical approach you can make a RTV silicone or latex mould using some of the solvent based rubber casting materials available from many good craft stores. CFS Fibreglass Supplies , Cornwall is one such online site as well as Tiranti's in London. This method is not really suitable for doing in the home kitchen however so I won't go into details here.


Hope this helps those of you who don't want to put baby through the casting process any more than necessary!

Valentines is over - not long 'til Mother's Day!

So we have a new gift for you - Our Mother's Day keepsake box with a 4 cast kit inside it.

A lovely white board box with organza ribbon as a closure. The box is finished to a high standard & would be lovely for Mum to decorate & keep as a keepsake box. Take a look as they are a limited offer only - Creative Casting homepage.

For some other lovely gift ideas, take a look at the Artful Hen website. My favourite are the Millie Mac aprons - dead funky & I'd like one for Mother's Day if anyone is listening.....

Back later in the week once the kids go back to school!

Baby's First Year - a time to remember...

Half term has arrived here once again & as we brace ourselves to survive the week it is worth remembering that they won't always be under our feet. Indeed when I stop & consider my boys have grown up pretty quickly.

Despite now spending my time helping other people create lifecasts I have no casts of my own kids as baby's at all & of course I can't go back so that's that.

As new parents time flies by & it can be difficult to stand back enjoy the first year of your baby's life but you really should. You should also capture as many moments as possible to help you remember when you do get chance when they are older.

'Firsts' worth capturing

First Smile - a wonderful moment that only a mother can really appreciate. Combine a photo of that early smile with a print of baby's foot for a perfect reminder of how cute & tiny they were. See our imprint kits for some ideas.

First Grab - I was delighted when he first tried to reach for a toy - I then went into overdrive for educational toys. A common ailment I hear but for a range of the best try those at the Early Learning Centre (always great quality) or Blooming Marvellous

First Roll - the start of things to come!

First Tooth - also the beginnings of what can be a painful & trying element of your baby's life. Bonjela was an essential in my medicine cabinet for a long time!

First Sleep through the Night - you can only hope this comes in the first year..... If not, try controlled crying (as long as they're not too young) . If you can keep up the initial agonising regime it does work.

First Crawl/walk - one of mine sons didn't crawl but the other did, so this first really can vary & often comes outside the first year. It is a treat to buy their first shoes though & don't forget to keep them & put into their keepsake box. Here's one of my favourite sites selling keepsake boxes - Freya design.


In recognition of this important stage of your baby's life, Creative Casting have developed a casting kit especially designed to help you capture the most amazing aspects of the first year - the rate at which your baby will grow! From a nursing newborn to a tiny person trying to get around on their own the speed at which you go through babygrow sizes is shocking. The same is true of baby's hands & feet & this is where our Baby's First Year casting kit fits in.

Giving enough materials to cast baby's feet on 3 separate occasions you can build up a picture of how they grow over that first 12 months. Finished off with the words 'Baby's First Year' in a cut out at the bottom of the frame mount this kit is lovely to own & makes a unique christening or new baby gift.


I just wish I had thought of it when my two were little.....

Creative Casting at The Baby Show, Excel. 9-11th March

We are looking at our stand layout for this new show today. We have supported The Baby Show events for the last 2 years & find it is a great chance to meet our customers. When your main sales channel is the internet it is easy to forget what a new mum looks like!!
We are often amazed at how some people get there before midday - I never managed pre-noon shopping for months after having my first baby!

So, the stand is bigger than ever & we are going to do baby casting demonstrations every hour so people can get an idea of how to do a cast of their baby. Come & see us - stand E34 & let us know what you think! We will have some special offers on our casting kits with prices from just £9.95!

Alginate/impression powder - how safe?

Those of you who are active lifecasters may have heard reference to free silica in alginate & the potential for it to be harmful. Well, this topic has been raised this last week on the ALI forum where a baby casting company have had the topic raised by one of their consultants.

The response by Ed McCormick is an excellent summary of this issue & should be read by all who supply & sell baby casting kits - many of whom don't understand the wording or chemical terms they are using to describe their products. You can read the post yourself or take my word for it that the health risks involved in using alginate to make moulds of baby's hands or feet (or anything else in fact) are incredibly small if the powder is used correctly & the key things to consider also apply to any other powder as millions of household powders contain free silica. Avoid creating clouds of dust & as one ALI forum member suggests you could mix your impression powder in a ventilated room away from baby.

Of course, this all said you should always seek medical attention should any kind of irritation occur & you should be able to get a copy of the health & safety report & material data sheet off your alginate supplier. I would reconsider buying from them if you can't.

I hope this is a useful summary for some of the UK lifecasters who may not be prepared for this question from a client as well as to those of you who have bought a Creative Casting baby casting kit.

Keep casting & enjoy!