Hi bigoledude! I agree with your comments on others "help". In my opinion, "do it yourself" is not very helpful! Now I'll offer my two cents worth. But... I still haven't even gotten my hands dirty and made Anything yet!!! I saw a pic in a magazine where they used bubble wrap on the outside of a trough. I suppose they used the "on top" method and pressed the bubble wrap in the wet mix. I know you're looking for rustic, but this is cool looking too! Thought maybe you'd like to try this way too. I'll try to find the pic of the finished pot. But for the look you're going for, I have a painting stipple brush, which has long stiff plastic bristles (5-6inches long) for stippling paint on walls. I think this or a large stencil brush would allow you to stipple the outside of hypertufa also!!! Or maybe find a piece of tree bark and press that into it. p.s. I'm going to try making my first one this coming week. We just had 5 inches of rain so it's been a little too humid to even think about making them. Good luck to you and please post pics when you are finished with your first pots!

Thank you all, My son-in-law has only his wife, (my daughter) his 13 year old daughter, and my granddaughter 18. I am a retired critical care RN, with current CPR and ACLS instructor (advanced cardiac life support) credentials, so it makes sense. My daughter is a Neuro nurse, all in all we at least know what to look for and immediate interventions needed. He has a sister who lives out of town, and she is also a retired RN, so although there aren'tt a lot of us, we should do okay....but it is intensive care for at least the first 6 weeks plus. But I am not a spring chicken, for sure! kay

>> "Ma'am, you know we really don't change out stock that often" LMAO!!! Oh, I'm feeling so much better about myself now. When I was redoing my kitchen & bathroom, I spent *SO* much time at the various HD's nearby (I kept rotating them because it was too embarrassing) that I couldn't *wait* till I didn't have to go there anymore. (Now I do the same thing at Crate & Barrel and Room & Board. ;-)) I still remember trekking out to Expo in Long Island (I don't have a car, so it was indeed a hike) and spending FIVE HOURS there. Well, there were kitchen cabinets and counters and *SO* many bathroom faucets and shower fixtures, and then there was tile and sinks and shower doors and appliances, and on the way out finally I noticed the door handles but the cab was already waiting and I didn't have time to look. At some point I had rounded my way back into cabinets again, and the very nice saleswoman I had spoken to hours earlier saw me and looked *shocked* that I was still there! I'm so sorry that store is gone now. I have great affection for it. :-)

Wow, thank you everyone, the warm welcome brought me a much needed smile! I must confess, Im in a bit of a depressed state here of late as I just lost my baby brother to cancer in April. I am fighting to keep myself from going under and I knew I needed to reach out, meet new people and find some other connections. I am disabled due to my health so I donot get the chance to physically go out and meet and connect with others. I remembered the KT and made the leap to try and re-connect. Oh and how many pounds of chocolate shall I bring? I make some pretty delish choc covered pretzels :) and my coffee pot is always full and ready to share!!!