Leaf Casting for a Birdbath: My First Attempt

A few weeks ago I attempted my first ever leaf casting. We were putting some hand prints of the my children and nieces in concrete for my parents to add to their garden and had some leftover Portland cement to use. Conveniently my parents had a pile of sand in their backyard behind their shed (leftover from the patio/pavilion) that was perfect for this project.  I didn't mix a hypertufa recipe but I did incorporate a little sand into the cement. (Hypertufa recipes use peat moss, sand, and cement. The peat moss breaks up over time which leaves behind a weathered look on the remaining stone. Very cool stuff.)

Here's how I made my leaf casting:

I waited about three weeks before attempting to move the leaf casting. The shady location in the back and all the rain we've had helped because the longer cement stays wet the stronger it becomes.

Here's the result of the leaf casting:








The large veining pattern on the sunflower leaves left some really nice deep grooves in the birdbath. This one stays at mom's house so I'll have to make another one for us before the sunflowers are gone!

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