Concrete Stuffed Animal Sculpture

I had seen a few stuffed animal concrete 'sculptures' online and wanted to try it. It proved way more difficult than I thought so I wanted to share some tips.

Supplies

• A stuffed animal
• Concrete mix
• A bucket to mix the concrete in (+ some plastic cups to hold the dry concrete and water)
• Some string or wire to hold up the stuffed animal in the desired position
• Some glue and googly eyes if desired

Step 1: Mix Your Concrete and Cover Your Stuffed Animal

Mix the concrete to be pretty watery and liquid. Put your stuffed animal in the bucket of concrete and cover completely.

Let me tell you about some of the failures I went through: I first tried to cover the stuffed animal bit by bit with some non-runny concrete mixture. As soon as I tried moving the stuffed animal, it would fall apart. I tried many times before abandoning and trying it a different way. I made the concrete mixture very liquid and bathed the stuffed animal in it, making sure every inch has been covered in concrete. I then let it set for a few minutes and did it again. I did it until I had a coat all over the stuffed animal.

Step 2: Set Your Stuffed Animal Up to Dry

I wanted my moose stuffed animal to be in a sitting position. I held its head up with wire so it allowed concrete to dry on its neck. Once the stuffed animal was in position, I used the rest of my concrete and added it onto the stuffed animal. I smoothed the concrete and let it dry 24hours.

Step 3: Give It Eyes and Place in Your Backyard!

Once dry, the stuffed animal holds its shape. If it doesn't and you are not satisfied, I would recommend putting a second coat of concrete on it. Again, starting with some very liquid concrete to get a coat over every part, then adding once the stuffed animal is in position for drying.

I added googly eyes with a bit of water-resistant glue (I hope its water resistant, this was an American brand that was new to me!). I set the moose in our garden, as our 'scare crow' and it looks fantastic!

Comments

[dcady]

Love this idea. Wish I'd thought of it. Thank you so much for sharing. I'm going to look for just the right stuffed animal to make one for my backyard.

[Reva5267]

Looks ok but why not take out the stuffing and fill full of cement that way looks more real and no clumps??

[mjcoul]

That's a great idea, I'll try it sometime :) You'd probably have to do the body first, then fill the limbs and head. And maybe use some clips to close the opening through which you fill it. I still think you'd want to cover the outside with concrete, I really like the look and it weather proofs it too!