That looks really cool. are you going to paint it??

The other Grandma says yes, you can paint it with watered down acrylic paint, for a softer look rather than just straight paint out of the bottle. I think a light chartruise (sp???) green would be a nice color for the leaf against the gray cement.

I would like to know the recipe. I think I will give it a try this weekend. I have time off from baby sitting my grand baby. Has anyone ever tried using artifical leaves will some type of release on them? I'm not sure where I will find a leaf large enough. We haven't had much rain and alot of stuff is dead. Even trees are dying around here.

wow, you went on vacation (to see baby) and learned to make a tufa leaf birdbath. I think you can find many directions and recipes over on the tufa site. And a lot of good pics and information. I have never tried it but check it out all the time. You did a good job.

It looks great! I read in a trash to treasure book that to age cement, you can rub some buttermilk on it. I wouldn't do it in the bowl part for the sake of the birdies though. lol! I haven't tried it since I don't have a place to put it and a place to work on it but I earmarked the link below for future reference. Over at the hypertufa forum, they are creating these things left and right! I bet it was a lot of fun playing in the "mud!"

Here is a link that might be useful: How to Make a Concrete Leaf Casting

The link below will take you to an excellent tutorial on making leaf castings.
I make a lot of them and it's a blast! I use elephant ears, Chinese paper plant and begonia leaves for the big ones. I've used redbud, oakleaf hydrangea, hosta and ligularia leaves for smaller ones.
During the colder months you can make leaf castings using large leaved greens from the grocers. I've used mustard and collard greens, kale, savoy and leaf cabbage and bok choy. Any large leaves with prominent veins will work.
Making leaf castings is a great group activity too. Just make sure you have enough space.

http://www.gardengatemagazine.com/extras/53birdbath.php

I am itching so badly to try making one, I'm tempted to run out now, while bad weather is coming in, and get the ingredients! That is the coolest thing I've seen in a long while.

I Really Really like it. I bet the birds will like it more !!!

That is really neat, you did an excellant job. Waiting for pictures of that GB

Gee I wish I would have known you were there....I would like to have met you....I live about 10 mins from Omaha, in Council Bluffs, Iowa

Congratulations on the new grandbaby.

My daughter used a training method to get her babies to quit crying and sleep in their beds...If they cry you (cry too...lol) wait a few mins...Go in without saying anything and lay them back down...It took about three nights for both of them...But now that they are 7 and 8 years old....and Daddy works nights...they camp out on the floor in her bedroom nearly every night.lol

Sorry...I got off track ....back to junk...I've been wanting to make a leaf bird bath to sit in one of my little gardens too...

You did a good job...I hope you drove a car to visit your daughter..so you didn't have any problem taking it home.

patti

I have never seen a birdbath like that. Very nice.

I used the Garden Gate link & made birdbaths with the vinyl patch cement. Now I use vinyl patch cement, then put my reinforcement on, & then use regular cement for the 2nd coat. The vinyl patch cement is more expensive but very smooth & less holes so I use it on the leaf but not the 2nd coat.

I've included pics of my latest cement birdbath - really huge - it's sitting on a huge sewer pipe. It's about a week old. It holds lots of water but at the deepest point it still is 1 1/2". I've also included the pic of the sand. It's hard to tell but I had to put this up to so you can learn from my mistakes.

If you notice the top of the sand mount is mostly flat. I made one & it was beautiful but the birds were drowning because it was too deep. So don't make too much of a dome. It's a learning experience. My first was too flat & didn't hold hardly any water. The next was too deep & the birds were drowning. This one is just right. LOL! I had a colorant I was going to add when making cement & forgot to put it in.

When it's done curing, I will put a wash on it. There were 6 birds in there yesterday taking a bath. I didn't think they would go near it with all the lime leeching out of it yet. I am changing the water a couple times a day - I don't want to hurt my birds but I'm surprised they would go in it at all with the lime.

At the bottom of the page are pics of small leaves I painted with metallic paint. They are a lot smaller & sold them at a nursery this year. It was a hit & I'm busy making more small ones for next year. It paid for my grinder for my stained glass addiction. :)

Here is a link that might be useful: Cement leaf

Really like your birdbath--you did a great job--- I too would like the recipe. Not sure if I can do it are not but I just might try.
Cacbeary you did a great job on yours too. I really enjoyed all your projects and would like to know if you would be willing to tell how you did the stepping stones with the pictures--they are so cool and also the ones with the flower and leaf on them----Maybe I'm not suppose to ask this on my follow-up since I'm kinda new at posting so if I'm not I apologize but would like to know how I am suppose to do it.
Becky

Cacbeary - love your garden projects. For those who would like to make the leaf birdbath, please look at her second pic as this is the mound of sand you'd be making. The higher you make it, the deeper the bowl will be.

Becky - you certainly can ask any Q in a follow-up post. I think the only rule to really remember is you're not supposed to offer anything for sale (iVillage rules). There are those who sneak those for sale posts in and iVillage will delete them.

Pattico, sorry I missed you. Next time I go (maybe Feb), I'll get ahold of you ahead of time and we can hook up for lunch. And no, I flew out there and back. I hand carried this birdbath with me on the way back.

As it is getting late this morning and I must get on down the road to work, I will take pics of the birdbath instruction sheets and post them in a separate post when I get home tonight. The ingredients aren't a lot and shouldn't cost a lot either.

Foxygrandma, I've been so busy getting things back in order at home and at work. I'm just exhausted at the end of the night and hit the sack real early these days. I'll get those pics to everyone this weekend.

I've looked at the concrete leaf prints others have posted in here and will say, those are basically the instructions for making them. One called for pusing the leaf into the sand, making the print and then removing the leaf. On the one I did, we left the leaf right on top of the sand mound and then covered it with the cement mixture. Another said to use wire mesh for support, we didn't and they came out just fine. I think using one of those huge elephant ear plant leaves would be awesome for a birdbath.

Got to run,

Sal

Please follow craftylady's advice about the size of the mound of sand! My first one turned out so big, I call it the "Racoon Bath"! The second one turned out much better! Can someone tell me why I can't put another thumbnail in here? Is it because they're on different pages in Photobucket?
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I love your leaf birdbath Countrygrl, that's fantastic. I wouldn't even mind that it was that big. I wish the veins on my leaf had turned out as great as yours.