Pregnancy is beautiful and the nine months whiz by so fast. But if your name isn’t Demi Moore or Mariah Carey, then it’s more than likely that you haven’t received a call from the editors at Vanity Fair or Life & Style requesting you and your baby bump to grace their covers.
But Original Belly Works can create a personal keepsake for soon-to-be-moms — a tangible treasure that will last forever. The company offers do-it-yourself plaster kits that create impressions of a pregnant woman’s torso.
The company’s founder Tisha DeShields describes this relic as “a work of art.” She says, “We use fiber glass to preserve the bellies. We place a pocket on the interior for keepsakes, love letters and personal mementos.” The casts are embellished with paint, fabric and flowers.
DeShields, a mother of four, founded the company eight years ago. She was a housewife, or as she terms it, domestic engineer, who wanted to do something different. “I knew that I was this unique creative individual. I’m a self-taught artist,” she shares. “It’s rewarding. I love the creative process and having the ability to give your client what they are looking for, and even surpassing what they are looking for.”
DeShields donates a portion of the proceeds from sales of her whimsical designs to the March of Dimes Foundation. It’s this legacy of giving that she’s passed on to her children and can be witnessed on TLC this fall, which documents her 8-year-old donating money she received from her birthday party to Children’s at Hughes Spalding Hospital. –yvette caslin
