Jell-O Birthdays

More details: the Radar Angels are working on a theme and title for the 26th Annual Jell-O Art Show, and you will hear it here first. It's like stirring up a stew, getting the creative minds together. 

Monday was my son's birthday, so I celebrated by making Jell-O Art. I made my mom, Rita, a present for her 88th birthday, an experiment in mailing...I put a gelatin flower in a glass jar, packed it up, and we'll see how strong it is. I might have to repair it a bit next time I go. Jell-O Art maintenance is part of the art. Dusting, at minimum, so that's why the glass jar. I've been doing that recently, making it lower maintenance and maybe longer-lasting. 

I had the flower left over from the wedding; there were four of them, burgundy and purple, and they were quite nice, so I'm happy to be finding uses for them. I think she needed a new piece, as she has one of the first I made, years and years ago.

In the realm of technique, I forgot to tell people what to do if you forget to pry your drying gelatin out of the pan before it gets stuck. Simply moisten until it is pliable enough to unstick. I put a little water in there, swirl it around, and let it sit for 5-15 minutes. You can also try melting it in the microwave, only about 15 seconds or so should do it. Some of the pieces I had to rehydrate became delightfully stretchy, so should end up in some new shapes.

And the reason I order my pure gelatin online and don't use the packaged types, is that I use a lot of it. The bag in the photo holds about 4 pounds. You can certainly start with the Knox big boxes and tear open those envelopes. I did that for years. It's convenient, and if you are making edible or jiggly for the show you might just want to use it to thicken the Jell-O or Royal brand (and I always buy the Royal so it will continue to get shelf space.) Don't get too ambitious too soon, either, because moldy Jell-O smells terrible.

These big foot-square pieces of bluish grey are for the life-size heron I'm building. 

I used some net as a carrier and will moisten it when I make the shapes I want. It could go over the back to support wings. I'll need lots of layers so I just make a lot of large pieces, using the lids of plastic tubs or even plastic wrap on a table to pour out thin layers. It can be uneven. I think that is what causes some of the interesting distortions while drying.

 One great aspect of fabric backing is that you can sew it, or sew things to it. Accessories like as wings can be heavy.

 Okay! I'll keep you posted. Keep thinking about what  will be funny in this April Fool's Day. On March 29, to be exact.