How to Make Coral | DIY Guide

So this was a fun DIY project I decided to take on for my Niece’s Mermaid Birthday Party. We had a little side table that needed a big detail for the centerpiece. I had wanted to try making coral, so I went for it. The great part about How to Make Coral is that it doesn’t have to look perfect due to it’s organic nature. Here is how we did it:

How to Make Coral

I took a trip into Wal-Mart, heading straight for the hardware section. I picked up a few long dowels, Coral and Light Pink Spray Paint, and then the magic ingredient:

Spray Foam Insulation

This stuff comes in a can. It can either be found in the winterizing/plumbing department or in a section where you’d find insect repellants. It is a product people use to either insulate pipes/faucets on their exteriors or keep bugs out of cracks in tough places. You can also buy Spray Foam on Amazon

In addition to these supplies I grabbed a foam board and some wax paper.

Step 1 : Preparing your Surface

The first thing you need to do is make yourself a surface for the spray insulation to form on. Wrap your foam board in the wax paper and use tape to keep it tight. I used the foam board so I could move the coral into the garage to dry. The Foam board makes it very portable.

You need the layer of wax paper to get the corals off the foam board. After the insulation dries it will be stuck to the wax paper. The wax paper would ideally peel off the back of the coral after it is dry, but if it doesn’t {mine didn’t all come off} you can just tear it down to barely any and paint over it. But at least you have it off the foam board.

Step 2: Shaping your Coral

Once you have your surface ready to go you can start spraying. Lay down your dowels and spray over the top of them. Think ice cream on a stick or cotton candy. You want the dowel as centered as possible so it supports the whole coral. Thankfully it is very lightweight once it is dry, but also a bit fragile. The higher up into your coral the dowel is the more supported it will be. Try to keep a thick base at the bottom while spraying finger-like corals towards the top.

Step 3: Removing & Painting

It took 2-3 days for the coral to dry. The surface was dry fastest, but the underside that was under the wax paper took longer, so the inside really. I removed the wax paper from the foam board and flipped it over to begin peeling. Getting the big pieces off was easy, but the center of the backs were stuck too well. Honestly, I just left the wax paper and painted over it. The backs were nice and smooth this way!

For painting you can really use whatever colors you want. I recommend at least 2 colors to give it a textured look. I think they turned out great and added a lot of color to the party. I’ve even held onto them for three years and used them AGAIN as Lava for Wyatt’s 6th birthday!