Do-it-yourself polyurethane foam crafts for the garden and vegetable garden: photo. Home waterfall from polyurethane foam DIY crafts from polyurethane foam

Dacha is a place where we relax and enjoy life. But decorations for the garden and yard cost a lot of money. Therefore, some owners make crafts from polyurethane foam, which are in no way inferior to expensive figurines made of plastic, metal and wood.

To decorate your household plot, you do not need to complete art courses and have "golden hands". A small set of tools, a little diligence and abstract thinking will allow you to get gnomes, frogs, sheep and Christmas trees from quite affordable material.

Manufacturing technology

First things first, stock up necessary materials and tools. This will determine how well and quickly the manufacturing process will go:

Suitable for product frame plastic bottles filled with sand, boards, metal objects and thick wire. Even an ordinary brick can become the basis for a future mushroom on its site!
Mounting foam.
Foam gun.
Gun cleaner.
If you plan to grow flowers in sculpture, then in the center of it you need to mount some kind of container such as a bucket, tin can or the same plastic bottle.
Varnish, paint and brushes for them.
Stationery or other knife.

The very process of creating garden figures consists of two successive processes. First, we apply foam to the base and let it harden a little. Then we apply again and so on until we approach the shape we need.

After that, extra protrusions are removed with an ordinary clerical knife, the sculpture takes on a finished shape and can be covered with paint. The whole work can take from an hour to several days, depending on the size of the figure and the thickness of the applied layer. All this is desirable to do in a separate dry room, where there is no excess dust and children do not run.. Otherwise, you will have to wash with gasoline or acetone an extremely sticky substance, which is polyurethane foam.

Manufacturing examples with instructions

Below are a few examples of different figures that even a beginner can create on his site. The main thing is to strictly follow the sequence of all operations. And in a few hours you will definitely feel like a real creator, from whose hands an excellent decoration for a summer cottage comes out!

Details about crafts from cans read .

Christmas tree

Making a Christmas tree out of polyurethane foam is as easy as shelling pears. To do this, you need to collect twigs and attach them to iron pipe. This can be done with tape or wire.

After that, it is necessary to wet the workpiece from the spray gun so that the foam “sticks” to the base more firmly.

Acrylic green paint is great for creating a Christmas mood with simple things like stick trims, twigs, polyurethane foam and fishing line.

You will find all the information about paths from corks from plastic bottles.

Ball

The ball is the easiest figure to make. It is recommended to start your creative experiments with it, and after that move on to more complex decorations and sculptures.

We take a can of paint and fill it with sand;
Layer by layer we apply mounting foam;
Upon reaching the required size and more or less spherical shape, we remove the excess parts with a knife;
We cover the product with varnish;
We choose the paint for our decoration, depending on our preferences;
If this is a bun or the head of some animal, we make eyes, a nose and a mustache from buttons, fishing line and wire.

It is possible that the material about will be useful to you.

Ram and sheep

First, let's make a frame. We take several plastic bottles and fasten them with tape. It will turn out something like the "skeleton" of the animal. The lower "limbs" can be filled with sand to make the figure more stable.
Next, you can already apply foam. But to save it, it is better to wrap the frame with isolon or other polymeric material. The first layer of polyurethane foam - you already have a rough idea of what will happen in the end!
We make ears from pieces of skin. You can also make them from plastic bottles by preheating and bending them.
We process the muzzle with a knife, carefully giving it the necessary features.
We cover the product with varnish.
With paint we draw eyes, a mouth and other "features" of our sheep or lamb!

Scheme for making sheep.

Goat

We make a frame of thick wire, with which we wrap several plastic bottles.
As a frame for the legs (bones), it is better to take metal pipes. They can be welded to a pedestal, dug into the ground, or secured with bolts. Your figurine must endure wind and rain, so be sure to securely fasten the base.
We apply one or two layers of mounting foam.
We make horns and a tail from wooden sticks or plastic cuts and fix them.
After applying the last layer, cut off all unnecessary and wrap the product with a sickle or fishing line.
We cover the surface with a primer and paint. You can choose any color, because it is completely your creation!
We make eyes from buttons.
We place our goat next to a pond, in a clearing, in the company of other decorations, etc.

In total, this sculpture will take from one to two weeks to make, as each layer of foam must harden. As a result, from unnecessary pipes, plastic bottles, wire scraps, other "garbage" and several cylinders of mounting foam, you get an excellent decoration for your summer cottage!

What is a plastic curb for tracks will tell you.

New Year crafts

Even with nothing at hand but wire and a can of foam, you can create great christmas decorations. various ornaments, Christmas decorations, simple and complex figures - all this is accessible and simple!

For example, you can make a snowflake. We take a wire of such thickness that it can be bent without effort. We make the frame of the future snowflake out of it. Gently apply one or two layers of foam. While it has not hardened, we achieve even and smooth surfaces. If something goes wrong, you can always add a little foam and cut off the protrusions with a regular clerical knife.

The Christmas ball is made even easier. Tennis ball covered with foam. After hardening, we apply a layer of paint and decorate our New Year's toy in bright and positive colors!

A simplified version of the Christmas tree is made using cardboard or isolon, wound on a rigid base in the form of a cone. Even a child can apply several layers! We level the surface, paint and put it in a prominent place.

How to make a swan from a tire is set out.

Basic rules for working with mounting foam

Shake the bottle periodically.
The ideal temperature for work is room temperature.
Mounting foam does not like direct sunlight. Therefore, it is necessary to work in the shade, and ready product cover with paint.
The setting time of the foam will vary depending on the manufacturer, temperature and speed of operation.

Important Points

The paint with which the finished product is coated must not contain nitrocellulose. Otherwise, the mounting foam will soften and the decoration will lose its shape.
Gloves are a must. Without them, washing hands will take much more time than the process of making crafts.
Mounting foam - very lightweight material. Therefore, heavy objects must be placed inside any product made from it. It can be a jar of sand, a plastic bottle filled with water, an iron base, metal pipes fastened with wire, and other massive things.

Video

This video shows how crafts are made from polyurethane foam:

Conclusion

You can give your summer cottage beauty and originality without spending a lot of money on it. Foam crafts are easy to make, non-toxic, and can have the most different forms. Starting from a simple ball and ending with figures of animals, birds, gnomes and even people!

Gingerbread Man, Gingerbread Man, I'll Eat You... Fairy Tale in the Garden

Stork is single for now, but soon he will have a girlfriend

Well, there are two of them

For work (to make a swan) you need:

plastic bottle (the size depends on what size of the figure you want to get in the end)
rubber or cotton gloves
mounting foam itself (the simplest)
gun for polyurethane foam (expensive about 500 rubles min, but it is necessary)
sharp knife (cut off unnecessary)
gun flush
desire and imagination...

We take a plastic bottle and fill it with sand so that the figure turns out to be heavy and not blown away by the wind. We make a small slit for the neck. The neck is a hose into which the wire is inserted, we give the neck the desired bend.

We begin to foam ... Layer by layer, allowing each layer to dry for about 15 minutes, otherwise the foam will settle and fall off. We leave the place where the legs should be, foam only the neck and torso from above. On the sides, where the penim wings should be, we make additional layers, giving the desired shape to the wings. We dry the swan figurine so that the foam hardens, after that we begin to make legs ...

Legs - I have two tubes, d = 1cm (you can take ski pole cut in half or something similar) twist the two halves with wire and again foam (“stick” to the body) layer after layer with drying!

Don't forget that foam tends to expand! After applying the first layers, you will see how much it increases in volume ...

After the figurine dries (30 minutes, after all layers are applied), cut off with a sharp knife, what seems superfluous to you.

I painted with PF and NC paints, common for outdoor work, it takes a lot of paint, because the surface is not flat. On the forum that advised me to make such fiuras, it is colored acrylic paints, and varnished on top, but PF and NTs are cheaper. It's probably convenient to use spray paints, but it's a little expensive...

Why do you need a gun? In order to make it convenient for them to apply foam, adjust the thickness of the jet.

This weekend I will make a swan girlfriend, I promise that I will take everything step by step on the camera and post a master class.

That's actually all!!! Keep it up, everything will work out!!! The main thing is not to be afraid to experiment. Foam is so comfortable material You will understand when you start doing.

By the way, a gingerbread man is an old saucepan, a fox is a 5-liter old canister.

turtle family

Master class on making figures from polyurethane foam

Took for work plastic mold from under the cake, wire, old hose, polyurethane foam, foam gun, cardboard and tape (I used electrical tape to more clearly show which places to wrap with it)

the mold from under the cake is filled with sand. In order to weight the figure.

We bend the wire and wrap it with adhesive tape (duct tape) to the form from under the cake. We fix in this way.

We foam the edges, thereby securing the wire and the shape.

For the neck and head: we thread the wire into the hose and attach it to the form with adhesive tape. We foam. We wait 15-20 minutes for the foam to harden.

We put pieces of hose on the bottom of the wire - these will be the legs.

From cardboard cut out a triangle - this will be the tail. We apply it to the back of our turtle and foam the seam. Let dry for 15-20 minutes.

We foam the tail.

We build up the shell, begin to foam the legs, neck and head. We dry each layer, otherwise the foam will "slide" ... And the desired shape will not work out !!!

We get just such a turtle, it remains only to color it. In the end, she applied three layers of foam, spent less than half a can of polyurethane foam, so I decided to make her girlfriends. But even for three turtles, I did not use the entire balloon.

Every summer resident wants everything that surrounds him, both in the house itself and on the site, to look beautiful, and the price of this beauty was small. Such a desire becomes the reason that everyone tries to equip comfortable and beautiful paths and paths in the garden, graceful hedges, stylish and bright flower beds.

One type of such landscape decoration can become garden figures from polyurethane foam and other materials.

Note!
The fashion for such came from European countries, where residents decorate the plots in front of their own private house in this way.

For professional designers such products as, for example, molds for figures, etc. have appeared on the modern market. But if you plan to decorate with figures own dacha, then additional financial expenses are completely optional, it is quite possible to get by with the tools and materials that can be found in every home.

Materials for manufacturing

In fact, do-it-yourself garden figures from polyurethane foam can be made using almost any materials, even such as:

Tree branches;
Plastic or glass bottles;
Construction debris or building materials;
Small remnants of wood;
Gypsum, etc.

Tip: You should not throw away such things, considering them to be ordinary garbage.
From these materials, you can build quite interesting and unusual figures for the garden from polyurethane foam.

Various garden crafts with their own hands from polyurethane foam and other materials have their own advantages and disadvantages:

Metal sculptures look very beautiful and original. Similar products often done by professional craftsmen, because it is quite difficult to make them, therefore, for self-manufacturing, it is better to choose simpler materials;

Many believe that wood products on suburban area will look much more aesthetic and natural. Of course, they are exceptionally beautiful, but in order to make them, you need to be a real master, and such skills are not available to everyone who wants to decorate their own yard;

Today, home-made figurines from tires and plastic bottles are gaining immense popularity.. On our site you will find very interesting ideas for similar sculptures, including gnomes, and fairy-tale characters, and fish, and exotic plants, as well as creative compositions from various figures.

In this article below, we will reveal all the intricacies of the hand-made construction of such products as do-it-yourself foam garden figurines, most budget option. For example, consider the process of making unusual moai figurines that have ancient history and deepest meaning.

Moreover, the manufacture of such sculptures will cost the summer resident just a penny. You might like the idea of recreating a small piece of Easter Island in your own country house.

Making "defenders" of the earth on your own site

In ancient times, sculptures of giant protectors were quite popular. This is clearly evidenced by the colossi from Easter Island. Our ancestors have always believed in the extraordinary power of majestic sculptures.

Echoes of this worldview can be found in fairy tales, where the heads of giants meet to help the main character. You can also meet majestic defenders in the works of world-famous writers.

Well, if you want to protect your site from evil, then install on it garden sculptures from polyurethane foam with their own hands, endowed with a deep meaning. In this article, we suggest that you take on the manufacture of a colossus, of course, not in full growth.

In reality, it would be just a huge figure, the installation and manufacture of which would involve the rental of heavy loading vehicles and labor. But to build figures for the garden with your own hands from foam small size within the power of every summer resident.

There is no need to make a full-scale model at all. Even significantly reduced garden figures made of polyurethane foam with their own hands will look good and retain their main functions, such as instilling mystical awe and protecting the site from "evil spirits".

Note!
Man-made colossi can become wonderful plants.

Tools and materials

To build figures for the garden from polyurethane foam, you need to purchase or get the following materials and tools:

Construction foam;
5 liter bucket;
Container for plants in diameter coinciding with a bucket;
Reinforcing wire;
Grid;
A bar of polystyrene;
Water-based paint

Manufacturing technology

In order to make a colossus for own garden the following instruction should be implemented:

Wrap the bucket with mesh in two layers and secure the edges;
From Styrofoam, build the nose of the eye and lips of the colossus;
Wrap the bar with a net and attach it to the workpiece with a wire;
Carefully fill the gaps between the elements with foam, after which the maximum even layer cover the entire workpiece;
Let the figure dry for a day;

Advice. Be patient and do not touch the figure for as long as possible.

Using a sharp knife, cut the shape, this is necessary so that the crafts for the garden from polyurethane foam acquire a more even finished shape;
The top of the sculpture needs to be painted. water-based paint. Coloring should be done in at least three layers.

A container with plants is installed on top of such garden foam crafts, after which the keeper of your garden can be considered ready and he will happily begin his duties.

Note!
According to the above principle of making small colossi, sculptures of various types can be built.

Finally

Crafts for the garden from various materials will be able to make your site not only beautiful, but also original. In addition, such decorations will not be expensive. Use all your creativity and imagination, choose the most suitable model and create a copy of it for your own site.

And the video in this article will be another instruction on how to cheaply and originally decorate a plot near your own country house.

Without much effort and material costs, foam crafts will become great decor and decoration of any suburban area. It's no secret that for many, a dacha is a place where people come to relax from the city noise, rhythm and bustle. Therefore, it is very important that the dacha is exactly the place where a person can truly enjoy life and relax the soul. Often the maintenance of a summer cottage and its decoration require considerable Money, patience and time, but with foam everything is different.

In order to make any crafts from polyurethane foam with your own hands, you do not need to have any special education - absolutely everyone can cope with this task, it is enough to have good imagination and imagination.

In construction, polyurethane foam is used very often and in in large numbers. It is used for sealing small cracks and has the ability to expand, while filling all the voids.

Important! The curing of the foam depends on what brand of foam it is, but on average it takes from 15 to 25 minutes.

You can cut off excess parts from finished products only after the foam has completely hardened.

Any crafts can be made from construction foam, since foam is an unpretentious material, and when frozen, it can withstand any temperature, in addition, foam crafts do not undergo any serious changes when atmospheric precipitation hits them.

The material is lightweight and does not have sharp corners, so crafts from mounting foam are often made for kindergarten or platforms. Such crafts can be both large and small, but the weight of the craft will be small.

When working with polyurethane foam, it is necessary to use a foam gun, which is put on the can, and at the end of the work, a cleaner for the gun is used

How to work with mounting foam?

To work with polyurethane foam, a minimal set of tools and accessories may be required - several pairs of gloves, preferably rubber - the fact is that the foam has such unpleasant abilities, quickly sticking to hands, so it is simply impossible to do without gloves. In addition, you will need 2 or 3 knives of different sizes - they are needed after the foam has dried in order to give the products the necessary shape and to cut through small details, such as eyes, nose, mouth. When working with polyurethane foam, it is necessary to use a foam gun, which is put on the can, and at the end of the work, a cleaner for the gun is used. For painting finished products, you will need paints and brushes. In order for foam crafts to last as long as possible, it is recommended to varnish them.

Important! Polyurethane foam is a very light material, so every time before doing some new craft, it is important to take care of its weighting, otherwise the structure will not hold.

Therefore, it is necessary to place something heavy inside each structure - it can be a container with sand, a piece of iron, a plastic bottle of water. You can use anything, the main thing is that the thing should at least fit the shape of the future craft (if the finished product is small in size or volume), and be weighty.

It is important to remember that all work performed with mounting foam should be carried out only in a well-ventilated area. The temperature should be at room temperature. If work is carried out on fresh air, then you need to do it in good weather, but work under straight lines sunbeams it is impossible, it is necessary to move into the shadows.

During operation, it is important not to forget to shake the foam can before each use.

Finished foam products must be coated with paint, but it is important to remember that the content of nitrocellulose is unacceptable, since this substance adversely affects the foam, as a result, the craft softens, and the entire structure may lose its shape.

Hedgehog figurine made of polyurethane foam

Foam crafts

Animal figures are especially popular among polyurethane foam crafts. You can place them in any part of the garden, placing a lonely figure by the pond or on the lawn, or create a whole composition. In the manufacture of crafts from polyurethane foam for kindergarten, figurines of fairy-tale characters are mainly created:

Hedgehog. This figurine is very easy to make and perfect for beginners. Any material can be used as a frame, it all depends on the preferences of the master. When the foam has hardened, with a knife you need to carefully cut off all the excess and give the product the desired shape. Hedgehog needles are made from toothpicks, which must first be prepared for work - they must be painted black, leaving a small distance intact. The part that needs to be stuck into the figure remains unpainted. If desired, the other end of the toothpick can be painted in golden color. Before sticking toothpicks into a hedgehog, the figure must first be painted and allowed to dry. In these photos you can see step by step manufacturing such crafts from polyurethane foam as a hedgehog.

Foam Goat

Sheep and lamb. A master class on the manufacture of such crafts from polyurethane foam, such as a ram and a sheep, should begin with the manufacture of a frame. The frame can be made from several plastic bottles interconnected with adhesive tape. In order for the design to be stable, the bottles that will be used as lower limbs must be filled with sand or water. After the frame is completely ready, you can proceed to the main work - to process it with mounting foam. Foaming should be done gradually, in layers. Each applied layer should dry thoroughly (15-20 minutes), and only after that you can apply the next one. What the craft will be after the final processing becomes visible after the first layer. After the final layer has been applied and dried, with a knife you need to give the figure its final shape, and then paint it.
Goat. These photos show step-by-step instruction to make such crafts with your own hands from polyurethane foam, like a goat. For the frame of the body, you need to use plastic bottles, previously wrapped with tape or wire. Remains are used for the leg frame metal pipes, which should be the same length and thickness. The resulting structure must be securely fixed to the ground, and care must be taken to ensure that the base of the body is securely fastened to the legs. The product is covered with one or two layers of polyurethane foam. In order to make horns and a tail, you can use scraps of thick branches, securely fasten them and apply another layer of foam to the goat. One thin coat of primer should be applied to the goat before painting. Large buttons can be used to make eyes.

Kolobok from polyurethane foam

Kolobok. This photo shows a craft in the form of a kolobok, made by hand using mounting foam. As a frame, you can use a medium-sized plastic ball. The ball must be covered with foam in several layers, while not forgetting to dry each layer. The hands of the bun are made of plastic straw with wire drawn in. Hands need to be fixed on the kolobok and treated with foam. Small ones are used for the legs. wooden bars, which must also be fixed and applied with foam. The scarf is also made of foam. And as a frame for the ears on the scarf, you can use cardboard. The finished kolobok needs to be painted, varnished and planted on some kind of stump.
Figure for growing flowers. In order to make an original flower pot, you can make any foam craft. But it is important to remember that in the middle part of the figure you need to fix a container for growing flowers - these can be: a deep basin, a tin bucket, a large plastic bottle with a cut neck.
New Year's crafts. Such foam crafts can be made as on suburban area as well as in the kindergarten. A Christmas tree ball can be made from a tennis ball by covering it with a layer of foam and painting it with bright colors.

In order to make a Christmas tree, you must first make a frame. The frame is made from a cone made of cardboard. The foam is applied in several layers on a cone-shaped frame. As it dries with a knife, the figure is shaped like a Christmas tree and painted in the appropriate color.

Making garden figures with your own hands from polyurethane foam is a great solution for any good owner. Even the smallest garden plot, not to mention the creations landscape designers near expensive cottages, they will decorate figurines for the garden - fairy-tale characters, funny little animals, cartoon characters. It is not so important what material they will be made of and how much they will cost if these characters turn a piece of your garden into a fabulous space for the delight of children and guests.

Having decided to decorate your site garden figurines First of all, you need to decide how you see them. You can make future garden residents from the most different materials but not all of them you can handle on your own. For example, wood carving, and even more so stone carving, requires considerable professionalism, so it is better to order such garden figures from specialists or buy ready-made ones. The same applies to the manufacture of plaster sculptures. It is clear that this will require additional costs, including the delivery of figurines to a new place of residence. In addition, each of the mentioned materials has its drawbacks.

Garden figurines made of wood look great - it is a beautiful, "warm", environmentally friendly material. However, in natural conditions among grass and bushes, such crafts for the garden may be short-lived or require special protection from dampness and rot.

Stone sculptures fit perfectly into garden reality and last for a long time, however, stone is a heavy material both directly and indirectly. figuratively, so the figures will be inactive, and not suitable for every style.

Gypsum crafts for the garden are perhaps the most widespread today due to their relative cheapness and ease of manufacture. However, if the manufacturing technology is not fully observed, they may turn out to be fragile and not water resistant enough.

Figures made of polyurethane foam are not only devoid of the listed disadvantages, but also have additional advantages:

low weight - so much so that during manufacture it is even recommended to fill the frame elements with sand or pebbles so that the characters made from polyurethane foam with their own hands are sufficiently stable;
almost unlimited freedom when working with the material - foam allows you to easily and quickly add in one place and subtract in another, because it is perfectly cut and can be applied to any surface, which is, of course, very convenient for a novice sculptor;
unlimited shapes, sizes and style features, since you can create a cartoon snail on the lawn and a Japanese-style lantern from foam;
insensitivity to moisture, temperature changes and other natural phenomena.

In other words, polyurethane foam as a material allows you to make a garden figure of any shape and any size.

Preparation for work

It is relatively easy to create a sculpture for a garden from polyurethane foam on your own, but you need to think everything through in advance.

First, you need to decide what kind of characters will become the inhabitants of your garden or vegetable garden. It is very important that they organically fit into the style of the site. Indeed, some monumental girl with an oar will look strange in a small dacha, and in Japanese garden- the frog princess or kolobok from Russian fairy tales. In addition, it should be borne in mind that there should not be too many such art objects, they should be a pleasant surprise for visitors, and not be found at every turn. If in doubt whether a do-it-yourself figure made from polyurethane foam will look good in one place or another, you can draw on cardboard and cut out its approximate layout. Put it in the intended place of residence of the future character and figure out how everything will look in reality.

Secondly, prepare in advance not only a balloon with foam, but also what you are going to make a frame from for a future sculpture. These can be metal buckets and cans, plastic bottles, boards and bars, fittings, strong but well-bent wire, thick cardboard, plastic tubes, etc. In fact, anything can become the basis for a future masterpiece - the foam coating will hide everything. The containers intended for the frame must be filled with sand or small pebbles to give stability to the finished figure. And it is better to hide the wire, from which it is convenient to make arms-legs-tails, inside a hollow plastic tube, so that the area for foam coverage is larger, and there is less internal damage.

Thirdly, before you start sculpting figures from mounting foam with your own hands, carefully study the instructions for the foam that you purchased, since each manufacturer has its own nuances and requirements. Don't forget to stock up on individual protective equipment to work with this building material - at least with gloves and a respirator.

Step by step instructions for creating sculptures

So, are you ready to become a "foamy" Michelangelo? Then get started.

1 On the made frame or part of it (in some cases it is better to connect the parts of the figure in an almost finished form), apply mounting foam in layers. The key here is to take your time and be patient. The foam is applied in thin layers, which must be allowed to dry for 15-20 minutes, otherwise pieces will begin to fall off your product. The bottle should be kept cap down to be able to use all the foam, without residue, and it is best to use a special gun to apply it. It is not recommended to work with this material when sub-zero temperature otherwise the result may disappoint you.
2 Fully polyurethane foam hardens in about 11-12 hours, so at the layering stage you can form it by hand, sculpting the desired shapes. When the material hardens completely, you can, following the example of the great sculptor, cut off the excess with a clerical knife. At the same time, you can not only cut off, but also add material in the right places - in this sense, polyurethane foam is unrivaled.
3 The finished and dried sculpture, so that it does not collapse in the future and serves as long as possible, should be covered with a layer of putty. To create a smooth and smooth surface the product is rubbed with sandpaper.
4 It is better to paint the sculpture with acrylic paints, and there should be at least 2 layers, otherwise it will not come out very beautifully. At the same time as painting, all small parts, including eyes that can be made from beads (by gluing them on the face or muzzle) or from small rubber balls - this way the look will be more expressive. So that your work does not lose its beauty for as long as possible, after painting it is recommended to cover it with a layer of varnish.
5 That's it, your masterpiece is ready, you can install it in its place. However, due to the lightness of the statue, you can change this place over time.

I would like to note that making figures for the garden with your own hands is especially nice if you do it with your children. In this case, your offspring will be able not only to enjoy meeting the funny inhabitants of your site, but also be proud that they participated in their creation.