I have had the best luck with using plastic to line the mold. Use anything with at least a slightly larger top then bottom. I put the bag inside, then plop the tufa mix in and build up the sides. Press it in tightly. But as you work it, pull up on the plastic just slightly so no "folds" develop in the sides. If they do, the plastic still pulls off when unmolding ( and sometimes creates a real rock-like appearance.) Lost 2 large "turkey roaster" pan tufas because the spray release didn't release! It hurt! They were the coolest shape. I am selling some at our annual plant sale fund raiser for our garden club. Hope they sell.

Thanks. Hey, Jazzbone, it looks like we're neighbors now...can you recommend any hardware or supply stores near Birmingham, other than Lowes and HD? Bending rebar is for suckers. I'm really jealous of anyone with welding tools! The last armature I made nearly did me in, and then I saw the thinner stuff at Lowes. Tango, good point. I'll be keeping my eye out. I'm inclined to do a little more damage on my credit card and a little less on my back. Regards, Justin

Flagtruck, Thanks for the tips, that helps a lot. I'm sorry, I didn't keep the instructions or write them down. Really, there's not a lot to it. Just make some odd-shaped armatures, cover them with tufa, and carve like crazy 24-36 hours later. Then coat it with a cement + water slurry (like thin pancake batter). If you exaggerate the cracks it will look just about right after the slurry. I think the recipe I used was 1:1:1:1 cement:vermiculite:perlite:peat. The stain was just normal artist's acrylic paint diluted with tons of water. I applied layer after layer of different colored washes. I hope that all makes sense. The hardest part is just carving random shapes. I looked at a picture of a rock and just tried to copy it the best I could. Or, maybe we could swap tufa for plants :) Please contact me if you need more info. Justin

Hi June, This was a fun find, partly because when my friend called me about the rocks DH was still asleep, I had no plan for using them and had about 2 minutes to make the decision to have tons of them dumped in my driveway. They were in a rush to take them to the dump. Needless to say, DH was NOT thrilled when he was rudely awakened, lol. When the huge pile was in the front yard, people kept asking what the heck we got them for. Now, since they're being installed in the yard, the same people say they'll gladly take the leftovers when we're finished. It's nice that the huge rock mountain is now a molehill. Linda