Bellymasks

Ok... so I am going out on a limb here and doing a posting that not all of you may enjoy. I'll give you fair warning now:

Pregnant bellies/breasts will be seen here!!!!!!!

I have done my best to make this post both tasteful and beautiful. I hope you will not be weirded out by the beauty of the pregnant body. I cropped my photos as much as possible so you wouldn't see anything too personal, but could still get the idea of what I am describing. If pregnant bodies at all gross you out, then turn back now.

Ok, with all of that being said....I have 3 beautiful, healthy children and have miscarried twice. So I have been pregnant 5 times in 6 years! That is a lot of time being pregnant. For the most part, I Love, love, LOVE being pregnant. I think it's a combination of marveling at the life inside of me, getting all of the extra attention and being at liberty to eat more! HA! But seriously... I get huge. This is me at the end of my last pregnancy:

I'm the size of one of those eco-friendly cars that drives by my house! Seriously!

At the end of each of my pregnancies, my hunka-hunka love husband has made a belly cast for me around week 36-37. And I have decorated each one. I don't know why. I don't picture my kids will want these one day... (I'm picturing one of my sons trying to convince my new daughter-in-law that these would make lovely wall hanging in their new home. Bah ha ha ha! I'm crackin' myself up!).

But I want them. I want to physically be able to touch what I looked like with each of my kids in my bellies. I can never go back to those last days, those last miserable weeks.... I wanted the baby out and yet I wanted to record every last kick. I wanted their foot out of my ribs, but I wondered if I would ever be able to remember how my belly jumped when they had the hiccups. Can anyone relate?

So we did the belly masks. They are so easy to do. They each take about an hour to prepare and do. Then I decorated each of mine months later.

First, I decorated my son Noah's mask a few months after he was born. Let me just say that I gained 54 pounds with Noah! Never have a looked more whale-ish in my life. It was not pretty. I didn't have a wide angle lens on my camera so I am only showing you a portion of it as not to ruin your eyes! (do you remember the episode of Friends when Phoebe first saw Chandelor and Monica kissing and shouted "my eyes! my eyes!").

His mask is not my favorite.... but it's what I wanted at the time. I had that children's book "It's Time for Bed" that I read to him. There was a page painted in blues and greens that read "It's time for bed little fish, little fish. So close your eyes and make a wish". It was sweet and I liked the ocean water look.

So Noah got a feeble attempt at ocean water. Then I added bling...and the saying. Now I think it's cheesy. Again, it's not what I would do now... but I loved it at the time. It hangs on the wall in my closet. It's so big where else would I store it?

My second son, Easton, has a beautiful cast! I only gained 26 pounds with him. I learned my lesson after trying to take off the weight after baby #1! Whew!!!!

I covered Easton's cast in tissue paper which worked out well because the casts tend to be really bumpy! (I kinda get lazy at the "sand smooth" part in the directions!). I painted it in a metallic bronze and glazed it in chocolate. Then added beaded fringe.

This cast was done 5 years ago but still hangs in our master bedroom in an inconspicuous corner. It blends with the decor in my room and most people don't even notice it there. Plus... I don't take just anyone through my master bedroom...so I feel ok with it hanging there out in the open.

And my baby Ava's cast is my favorite. I found this idea off of a painting forum that I belong to. Wish I could claim it as my own... but it was not.

I did her belly mask to look like a frog and it sits in her bedroom on a shelf on her dresser. It's hilarious to me that no one realizes it's my body until I tell them. Can you see it in this picture????

(You can see more pictures of Ava's room by clicking here.)

I first thought of making a belly mask when I read about Pamela Anderson's belly mask in People Magazine years ago. Boy I'd love to see what Pamela's mask looks like! I'm thinking it would be 1/2 the size of mine. Maybe on second thought I don't want to see it!

People Magazine did a story on a company called Belly Masks by Francine Krause. Here is the picture that inspired me to check them out!

I know some of these are a little out there. But, there are so many ways to do a mask. Arms or no arms? Thighs or no thighs? Hands over the stomach?

I ordered all of my masks from Francine Krause. I would highly recommend their product. If you or someone you love is pregnant, consider buying yourself/them a bellymask as a present. It's one of those things that a pregnant person may do and later wonder why in the heck they ever did it. But once they've had their baby, they can never go back and do it.

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So if I haven't completely already freaked you out, I just go ahead and spill my guts to you. I have also painted my belly for 2 Halloweens!!!!!! As long as you use paint that is safe for your skin, my doctor said it was fine. And then the good Doctor promptly shook his head as if he would never quite understand me.

I'll spare you the shots of my whole belly but one of my BFF's (Laura) is painting a baby girl on my stomach complete with curls, glitter on her lips and she is giving us the peace sign. It was hilarious. Sometimes it helps just to find some humor in your ginormous body in those last few weeks! Laura has some mad belly paintin' skills!

For the other Halloween my husband painted my stomach like a huge pumpkin. Unfortunately, I have no digital pictures of it!

Please check with your obstetrician before painting your belly first.

Thank you for letting me show you some things that I really treasure. I hope it inspires someone to make memories of their pregnant belly. If you have any questions that you'd like to ask me about the masks, feel free to email me at info@themagicbrushinc.com

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Or, if you are completely weirded out right now, head over to my Magic Brush blog and check out this awesome chandelier wall decal that I now have in my paint room!

I will be writing for Project Create a Home as often as my business and family will let me. I hope to inspire people to paint things that perhaps they previously had not considered. I love being surrounded by sentimental, beautiful things and hope that will come through in my posts.

Blessings,

Jennifer