I decided to create a plaster leaf for the Tic Tac Toe board. In order to get it the proper size, I lined up the bugs in Tac Tac Toe-fashion on a piece of cardboard and drew the leaf around them. I then cut the cardboard leaf out to use as a template.
I then took a bag of craft sand and added enough water to it to make it pack easily. I placed the cardboard template in a cookie sheet and packed the sand around the outside edges to create a mold for the Tic Tac Toe board.
I removed the card board template and touched up the edges of the sand mold with my fingers to create a good leaf shape.
I then made up another batch of plaster to yogurt consistency and poured it into the leaf mold. (It took several cups of plaster for this size leaf- I just made them up one after the other and dumped them into the mold). Because of the size, I wanted the leaf to be about 1/2″ thick for strength. Allow the leaf to dry overnight before lifting it out of the mold.
The base is complete. Pretty cool huh? To add a bit of structural support and make it more finished, I glued a piece of cardboard to the bottom that is slightly smaller around than the outline of the leaf and then glued a piece of green felt over that.