BirthSpirit Midwifery - Belly Casting & Mehndi

Belly Art

When a woman grows a baby in her womb, she is absolutely ripe with the miracle within. Her thoughts and actions are centered around the new life in her belly and everyone is delighted by the sight of her. This is a time to celebrate a woman's body for it's ability to carry and nurture a tiny baby

BELLY MEHNDI

Mehndi is an ancient form of body art traditionally used to celebrate the major rites of passage in a woman's life. Using paste made from ground henna leaves, intricate patterns are painted on the belly of the expectant mama. The stain lasts up to three weeks. It is safe and non-toxic. Belly mehndi makes an excellent addition to any shower or blessingway.

The 38-week belly of Mary Wandrei, painted with henna pant

Chandi's pregnant belly is decorated
with a large henna sunflower at her Blessingway.

BELLY CASTING

Belly casting creates a permanent sculpture of your belly. I use medical grade plaster-impregnated gauze strips to fully cover the front side of your round torso. Once the belly cast is completely dry, you can decorate it with paint, decoupage, fabric, or anything else you desire. Belly casting is a wonderful activity for any baby shower or blessingway. I bring all the necessary supplies to cast your belly.

This is a plain undecorated belly cast.

This belly cast was decorated with water colors in imitation of a Tiffany glass window. The art work was done by Jeane Heckert of Elgin, IL. You can reach her at visionmaker4hm@gmail.com.

The sunflower on this belly cast was decoupaged in place by LaNette McQuitty of Milwaukee, WI.

This belly cast was covered in a handmade "corset" of teal velveteen, which was then decorated with leaf prints (from real dried leaves) in acrylic paints, and then beading was added to the leaf designs.