Working With Foam

Working With Foam

Pink Insulation Foam

What it looks like:

What You Should Know About It: 

Purchase it in either half in or one inch thick slabs. One slab will do you for a while, depending on your project. The slabs are fairly large.

Where to Find It: Home renovation stores such as: Home Depot, Rona, Home Hardware, etc.

What to Use it For: Carving into, basing things, bricks, structures.

Tips:

*Cut the foam using a hot wire foam cutter or a utility knife.

*If you're using a utility knife, always use a sharp knife when starting a new project or the foam will "pill", which is a giant hassle and will cause problems and annoy the heck out of you. The sharper the knife, the smoother it will go through the foam.

*If you use a hot wire foam cutter, you can either make your own or buy one pre-made. It melts through the foam giving your nice smooth flat cuts.

*Try making your own hot wire foam cutter.

Childrens/Kids Foam

What it looks like:

Where to Find It: 

Craft stores like Michaels and Hobby Lobby.

What to Use it For: 

Smaller, thinner details. I use it for shingles sometimes, fake leather texture.

Tips:

*You can cut it with normal scissors. I don't recommend using utility or craft knives to cut it as it will pull at it and your cuts won't be as nice.

*Use kids foam to make an aged book!

White Styrofoam

What it looks like:

Where to Find It: 

Craft stores like Michaels and Hobby Lobby, you can sometimes find it as insulation at home stores as well like Home Depot.

What to Use it For:

Basing, etc.

Tips: 

*I'm not personally a fan of this type of foam and steer clear of it. I don't like that it's made up of tiny bits of smaller balls of styrofoam - it's jagged and ridiculously messy and have so far never come across an occasion where I've needed it.

Foamcore 

What it looks like:

Where to Find It:

Craft stores like Michaels and Hobby Lobby and dollar stores like Dollarama and Dollar Tree.

What to Use it For: 

Making buildings, basing, carving into, literally everything.

Tips:

I buy mine from the dollar store rather than the craft store because the paper comes off easier. It rips off in one swipe, rather than having to soak the paper off in water which is way too much of an ordeal for me.