Welcome, those are awesome. Just what I have been wanting to do. What are the mushroom parts made out of?

Welcome. those are great mushrooms. Please tell us
more about them.
Mayme

Welcome to the junk yard!!!! Thanks for sharing your awsome mushrooms... Please give us instructions.

welcome!!! I love your mushrooms(-:

A great big junk yard welcome!! Love the mushrooms, yes you must share the directions with us.

Welcome to the Junk Pile Lynda, you'll have lots of fun on this forum and meet some of the most wonderful folks ever. Your mosaic'd mushrooms are fantastic, great job.

Sal

Those shrooms need a Gnome or two!Beautiful!

Thanks so much for the words of welcome, and your nice comments. I'd be glad to share with you how I made them. I'll write something up, maybe take a few more pictures, as I've got some shrooms "in progress" (pictures are always better than just words, right?) and I'll try to post it tomorrow. Thanks again!

Ditto to all the above gals' comments. Can't wait to find out more about your mushrooms, and I'm just starting to mosaic stuff myself so I read a lot on their forum about it and see all the neat pix.
So glad you joined us and look forward to many more photos of your things too.

Karen

Here is a link that might be useful: sangaree_KS

welcome to our gardens. Love your mushrooms. Where did you get those huge gems. They are wonderful. June

Welcome, you will love the ideas these ladies/gents come up with, things I never thought of and I am a junker from way back. I have the gnome garden and no mushrooms so I can't wait for instructions ( yours are awesome)

June  the gems are just those half marblesÂ.regular sizeÂmaybe they just look big because they are on small pieces?

I made my mushrooms with a concrete mix over various objectsÂI used a recipe from a book by Sherri Warner Hunter  itÂs her Basic Sand Mix, which is 1 part Portland cement, 3 parts sand and approximately 1 part water. IÂm still very much a beginner at making concrete structures, but IÂve got both of Sherri Warner HunterÂs books, and they have been very helpful to me.

On the 4 that look kind of like "button" mushrooms - I put the mix over a regular sized light bulb (light bulb covered in plastic wrap).

{{gwi:134621}}

On the more elongated ones, I used a 6 oz yogurt container  and put the mix over it, putting enough mix on the "top" (which of course is the bottom of the container), so that the top is more rounded, rather than flat. Oh, and I didnÂt try to "unmold" itÂthe plastic container is still in there.

For the stems on those 2 types, I took a piece of Styrofoam, and whittled it into the desired shape, stuck a long nail into the bottom, and then covered it with the mix. After a couple of days curing time for the cap and stem, I attached the stems to the caps by inserting the stem into the cap and pushing the mix all around it. After the concrete had fully cured, I painted the stems.
{{gwi:134622}}

The taller lavender one was made over a glass bowl (covered in plastic wrap), with the mix over it.

The stem on the lavender one is a bud vase with the concrete mix over it. And the cap just sits on top of the bud vase  itÂs not attached.
{{gwi:134623}}

And here's another type I'm working on. As a base, I used this metal thing - it's something from some type of light fixture. Thought the result might look a little like a portobello mushroom.
{{gwi:134624}}

Welcome! Those are realy nice. You did a great job, and thanks for the detailed isntructions. :)

Hi Lyndalu! Love your mushroom garden! Thanks for sharing the how-to's,too! Those lightbulb ones are especially neat!

So glad you found the forum. This one is a lot of fun.
Really inspiring, and a great bunch here. This is where we were posting all our mosaics before we found the other forum. You will like it here!

Hazie

I love the mushrooms!!! I am new to mosaics and am learning by trial and error. I was wondering when do you place your tiles - before or after the cement hardens. If after then what do you use to get them to adhere and lastly what brand of grout are you using.

Hi pats....I'm glad you like the mushrooms. They were fun to make, and I love the look of them in the garden.

I let the concrete "cure" before I mosaic the item. There are differing opinions on this, and some people are mosaicing the next day, but I've been following the rule of wet curing for a couple of days (keep spritzing with water to keep item damp, and cover with plastic) and then I let it cure for at least a couple of weeks. All the books I've read say wait about 28 days (I try to wait that long, but sometimes it's a little shorter)....but like I said, I've heard differing opinions on this lately. If you're new to creating concrete structures, I highly recommend a book by Sherry Warner Hunter.

I use cement based adhesive (also called thinset) and the brand I use is Mapei - it's the MAPEI - Ultraflex 2 - Professional Grade Polymer Modified Mortar. It's good for both indoors and outdoors.

I use several different brands of grout - love the MAPEI - Keracolor-S (they have the best BLACK that I've found) have also used Custom Building Products - Polyblend, and recently used Tec AccuColor (scored some bags at a thrift store). I've had good experiences with all 3 of these brands. I definitely prefer SANDED grout over unsanded. And would NOT recommend pre-mixed grout. Also, when you mix up your grout - it's easier and less messy if you mix it a little on the dry side - like a thick peanut butter consistency....and I don't use a damp sponge for cleanup - I use soft cloths (strips from t-shirts work well)to wipe off the excess and clean up the tiles. On working with something the size of the bigger mushroom, by the time I finish putting on the last of the grout, the first part I applied was ready to be wiped down with the cloths. Since joining the other forum, I discovered that several people over there are using this same method...all with good results.

Hope this helps. AND....since you're new to mosaics, also come on over to the Stained Glass and Mosaics Forum...look through the FAQs there......there's a wealth of knowledge contained there, and it's like this forum, everyone is so nice and friendly and helpful. You'll be able to get answers to all your mosaic questions there - no sense in trial and error....when you can ask the questions ahead of time! Welcome to the world of mosaics - it's addicting!!

lyndalu

Welcome. I agree those beautiful mushrooms need a gnome or two or a fairy.lol

Hi Lynda,

I've been a lurker here for a while and have gotten tons of wonderful ideas from the creative folks here. I've always loved and wanted mushrooms in my garden and thanks to you I'm going to try my hand at making some of these. =0)

Blessings, Beth

Hey, LYNDA: Nice seeing you on this side. Your instructions are very detailed. You know, before I took Riana's workshop in P.V., I didn't really understand the wire technique. I've had Sherry Warner Hunter's book for quite some time, and NOW that I know how to do this wire armature technique, I w/go back and re-think some of those projects that made me buy the book. Thanks for the reminder of her book.

i love the mushrooms! awesome job. welcome!

Thanks for the additional info - I can't wait to get started - I can see why you say it's addictive. I am sure I could lose my job real fast if I stayed on this site as much as I want to.