Amaya Blackstone (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
special_rabbit) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
fandomhigh2018-10-22 06:42 am
special_rabbit) wrote in fandomhigh2018-10-22 06:42 am
Entry tags:
Shop Class; Monday, First Period [10/22].
Considering all the animal transformations that had been going on lately, Amaya wasn't quite sure how much of a class she'd have that morning. It was a pretty small class to begin with, but they'd make do either way. It was going to be a pretty simple one today, anyway.
"Morning, everyone," she nodded to the students that were here. "It's October, and I've been here long enough," how had she been here long enough for this??, "to know that that means Halloween's right around the corner. We don't have anything quite like it where I'm from, but I've picked up enough to know that that generally means getting in the mood for spooky things, costumes, and, of course, pumpkins."
And pumpkin spice in everything under the sun, but that wasn't the point today.
"Jack-o-lanterns are a popular decorative staple 'round these parts, but we're going to make our own shop class twist on pumpkins and make some out of concrete! Usually, this requires also making some pumpkins out of papier-mâché as a mold first, but since we don't have much time for that today, I've got a few ready to go, in a couple different shapes and sizes, come on up and pick one or two that you like, and we'll get started.
"We're going to start by cutting off the stems of the papier-mâché pumpkins so we can get our concrete in there, and then take a second to wrap some strong tape around the pumpkin so that it can better hold its shape once we fill it up with wet concrete. Make a new stem with a sheet of stiff paper, roll it up, tape it into shape, cut out some little tabs on the bottom so that it'll fit on the pumpkin better in a little bit. So that's all their is to our mold, time to mix up some concrete.
"Now, we've done this before, of course, so I know you've got this part. Make smaller batches as you need them so you can get the consistency right; we're going for wet but not soupy with this one. Too watery, and it's going to leak through our molds and break it before it has time to set. Once it's ready, about this," she scooped out some of her mix to show them the still slightly lumpy mix, "type of consistency, then you're just going to pour it into your pumpkin mold. As you go, remember to take some time to tamp the pumpkin on the table, get all that concrete settled in there, so it'll be a bit of a repetitive process of pouring and tamping, pouring and tamping, over and over until it's finally filled, stirring the mix a little as you go as well. And really make sure to press the concrete into the side of the pumpkin, too, to get a better shape and texture when it dries. Once the pumpkin's full, go ahead and fill up the stem mold you made, place it on top, and that's it!
"At this point, all we've got to do is clean up and wait. It'll take a few days for the concrete to set and dry, so we'll just set these aside until next week, and you'll see how they turned out. Since that's hardly going to take all of the class period, I've brought in a few actual pumpkins, too. Once you've got your molds set up, feel free to use the rest of the class time to carve a few pumpkins if you like, I'm sure you guys can come up with some really interesting designs."
"Oh! And one last thing. If you happen to get some concrete on you, please make sure to clean it off before it starts to dry."
Beaker.
"Morning, everyone," she nodded to the students that were here. "It's October, and I've been here long enough," how had she been here long enough for this??, "to know that that means Halloween's right around the corner. We don't have anything quite like it where I'm from, but I've picked up enough to know that that generally means getting in the mood for spooky things, costumes, and, of course, pumpkins."
And pumpkin spice in everything under the sun, but that wasn't the point today.
"Jack-o-lanterns are a popular decorative staple 'round these parts, but we're going to make our own shop class twist on pumpkins and make some out of concrete! Usually, this requires also making some pumpkins out of papier-mâché as a mold first, but since we don't have much time for that today, I've got a few ready to go, in a couple different shapes and sizes, come on up and pick one or two that you like, and we'll get started.
"We're going to start by cutting off the stems of the papier-mâché pumpkins so we can get our concrete in there, and then take a second to wrap some strong tape around the pumpkin so that it can better hold its shape once we fill it up with wet concrete. Make a new stem with a sheet of stiff paper, roll it up, tape it into shape, cut out some little tabs on the bottom so that it'll fit on the pumpkin better in a little bit. So that's all their is to our mold, time to mix up some concrete.
"Now, we've done this before, of course, so I know you've got this part. Make smaller batches as you need them so you can get the consistency right; we're going for wet but not soupy with this one. Too watery, and it's going to leak through our molds and break it before it has time to set. Once it's ready, about this," she scooped out some of her mix to show them the still slightly lumpy mix, "type of consistency, then you're just going to pour it into your pumpkin mold. As you go, remember to take some time to tamp the pumpkin on the table, get all that concrete settled in there, so it'll be a bit of a repetitive process of pouring and tamping, pouring and tamping, over and over until it's finally filled, stirring the mix a little as you go as well. And really make sure to press the concrete into the side of the pumpkin, too, to get a better shape and texture when it dries. Once the pumpkin's full, go ahead and fill up the stem mold you made, place it on top, and that's it!
"At this point, all we've got to do is clean up and wait. It'll take a few days for the concrete to set and dry, so we'll just set these aside until next week, and you'll see how they turned out. Since that's hardly going to take all of the class period, I've brought in a few actual pumpkins, too. Once you've got your molds set up, feel free to use the rest of the class time to carve a few pumpkins if you like, I'm sure you guys can come up with some really interesting designs."
"Oh! And one last thing. If you happen to get some concrete on you, please make sure to clean it off before it starts to dry."
Beaker.
Talk to Amaya - Shop Class, 10/22.