Unique Powertex giraffe garden feature
Designer – Donna Mcghie
For this article I was asked to create a 3D animal using Powertex and recycled materials. As anyone who is familiar with Powertex will know, the possibilities for this are endless. My brain was buzzing with ideas. However, it was when I was sorting out stuff to take to the dump, that inspiration hit for a Powertex giraffe.

I was loading a broken floor mop into my van that I settled on what I was going to create. The mop was speaking to me, and what it was saying was one word. Giraffe. As I turned it round in my hands, a picture started to form in my mind. I even had a ready made pose, with the head lifted high, as though nibbling on leaves. Yes I thought, I’m going to make you into a giraffe’s head sticking out of a plant pot in my garden.
A strange thing to think? Maybe, but I’m willing to guess that anyone who is into Powertex will have had similar thoughts on a regular basis.

We have a plant that overhangs our fence and I decided to turn this into a feature by placing my giraffe so that it can decoratively nibble on the leaves. I opted to only make the neck as I thought it would look quirky sticking out amongst my plants.
Materials List
- Powertex Bronze Fabric Hardener
- Powertex Black Fabric Hardener
- Stone Art
- Easy 3D Flex
- Colortricx Rich Gold Powder Pigment
- Colortricx Bronze Gold Powder Pigment
- Easy Varnish
- Old mop
- 2 Old toothbrushes (disinfected) If you would rather you can choose something else, just use your imagination
- Sand
- Material for eyelashes and hair on giraffe’s neck
- Something for the eyes, I used stones, but buttons would do as well
- Plastic bags etc for stuffing the face
- Tin foil
- Masking tape
Making a Powertex Giraffe Garden Feature
Create the head

I scrunched up old plastic from packaging and old rubber gloves to form the shape of the face, before covering tightly with masking tape.
Create the base

I filled the part that held the disinfectant base with sand before also covering with tin foil and tape to add weight.
Create the neck

Using old plastic I padded out the shape of the neck all the way down, and bound tightly with masking tape before painting with Powertex Fabric Hardener.
Stone Art clay and horns

I mixed Stone Art Clay face and neck leaving some pole (and sand) free to bury in soil in my plant pot.
Make the eyes and ears

I molded some ear shapes using tin foil and wire, before covering with tape and clay and adhering to the head. I also pushed some stones in for the eyes.
Easy 3d Flex clay

I dry brushed with Powertex Rich Gold Pigment before adding some Easy 3D Flex patches. A stamp added even more texture.
Fabric eyelashes

I used Black Powertex Fabric Hardener and some tassles from an old key ring to create luscious lashes for my Giraffe.
Use some fringing

I soaked some of this fringing in Bronze Powertex to create the hair for my giraffe’s neck, and left the whole thing to dry off completely.
Dry brushing

The finishing touches
The final step was to dry brush the whole thing in Bronze Gold Pigment. This create a contrast to the Rich Gold that was on the Clay underneath the 3D Flex patches.
I wanted to be sure that anything I used apart from Powertex was recycled. Hence the stones for eyes, and the toothbrushes for horns. I had thought of using old corks for the horns, and toyed with using hessian for the patches, but my love for Easy 3D flex won
out.
If you decide create something similar, to ensure it is weather resistant please be aware that Stone Art Clay needs to be kept indoors for 6 months initially.
Gerald will stay safely inside until next year. Just before putting him
outside I will give another couple of coats of Easy Varnish, especially on the
Easy 3D Flex patches.

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Obviously if you choose to make your own Giraffe you can do it on as big, or as small a scale as you wish – using anything that is available to you at home. If you decide to make one please do post a photo over on our Facebook page as we love to see what people are inspired to create.
If you are unsure about how to create Stone Art Clay, my fellow design team member Annette has great instructions in this blog.
Thanks so much for reading, I hope you are inspired by Gerald. You can see more of my work on my facebook page, and my website www.artandmurals.co.uk.
Until next month, take care and Happy Powertexing 🙂
Oh my goodness this is just so fabulous xx
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Thank you so much Patricia, it was great fun making it. For quite some time my neighbour was convinced I was making a crocodile 🙂 x
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Thank you Patricia 🙂 x
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Wow Wow Wow I absolutely love this Donna well done!! Gorgeous!!
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Thank you Karen, I thoroughly enjoyed making him 🙂 x
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