This week I made a mold of my finger alginate and then cast it with plaster.

Process

The first step was to make the mold. We combined the alginate with water at a ratio of 4:1. Then I placed my finger into the wet alginate and it was kind of gross, but solidified quite fast.

After that, we mixed the plaster with water at a 2:1 ratio. Once we wiggled our fingers out of the alginate, we poured the plaster in, tapping the full container on the table to eliminate as many air bubbles as possible.

Before leaving to OEDK to let it dry, we partially submerged screws into the wet plaster.

This is the finished product before post-processing:

 

For post-processing, I decided to spray paint them red.

 

Cost Breakdown

Materials
Alginate 213 grams for 3 cents: 6.5$
Plaster ~8 ounces for 20 cents: ~$1.50
Spray Paint: negligible amount

Labor
I spent about 2 hours total on this project, because I had a few failed attempts. using an hourly pay of $17.00/hour, the labor would have cost: $35.

Total: $43.

What I would do differently:
This was a very fun homework, and seems like a fun activity to do at home. If I were to do it again, I would definitely use a larger container for my molds, and maybe paint my nails as post processing.