I checked my Lowe's and darn it they didn't have any of these metal pans on clearance. Rats! I did find a fun little castle for $5. I'm going to cut out some of the windows and rig up a solar light in it. If you use the metal pans for casting stepping stones from concrete keep in mind it can be a real pain, literally and figuratively, to unmold from a metal form! I use the plastic drain pans for casting my faux millstones, much easier to use. Remember to drill a little hole air hole in your improvised molds. It breaks the vacuum and makes unmolding your concrete creation much easier.

i am looking for Giant puffball mushroom or earth star spores. does anyone have any they are willing to trade. i also would like to know how to start mushrroms from spores how long till they "germinate"? thanx email me at joair89@inbox.com

Looks to me like a Giant Puffball Mushroom. They are only edible when young. I get these in my yard every fall, this year I painted some orange and made jack-o-lantern faces on them, lol. This is from Wikipedia: The Giant puffball (Calvatia gigantea) is a puffball mushroom commonly found in meadows, fields, and deciduous forests worldwide usually in late summer and autumn. Most giant puffballs grow to be 10 to 70 cm in diameter, although occasionally some can reach diameters up to 150 cm and weights of 20 kg. The inside of the mature Giant puffballs is greenish brown, whereas the interior of immature puffballs is white. The large white mushrooms are edible when young. To distinguish giant puffballs from other poisonous species such as Scleroderma areolatum cut them open. Edible puffs will have a white interior. Some similar mushrooms have the white interior but also have the silhouette of a cap-type mushroom on the interior when cut open. These are young cap-type mushrooms and may be poisonous. Some claim the meat tastes very similar to tofu when cooked. To prepare, remove any brown portions and tough skin if necessary; do not soak in water. Puffballs may be sauteed, broiled, or breaded and fried; they do not dehydrate well, but may be cooked and then frozen. All members of the true puffball family are considered edible, but be sure to cut the young ones open to make sure there are no gills hidden inside. The deadly amanitas have a volva or "universal veil" that completely envelopes the young mushrooms. Before bursting forth from the volva, they look like little round puffball mushrooms. Additionally, puffballs resemble the earthball (Scleroderma citrinum). The latter are distinguished by a much firmer, elastic fruiting body, and as an interior that becomes dark purplish-black with white reticulation early in development. The fruiting body of a puffball mushroom will develop within the period of a few weeks and soon begin to decompose and rot, at which point it should not be consumed. Unlike most mushrooms, all the spores of the giant puffball are created inside the fruiting body; large specimens can easily contain several trillion spores. Spores are yellowish, smooth and 3 to 5 micrometres in size. The dry spores can be used as a coagulant to help stop bleeding. The classification of this species has been revised in recent years, as the formerly recognised class Gasteromycetes, which included all puffballs, has been found to be polyphyletic. Some authors place the giant puffball and other members of genus Calvatia in order Agaricales. Also, the species has in the past been placed in two other genera, Lycoperdon and Langermannia.

Oh, Judith, your idea sounds lovely, too. I only wish I had a Michael's nearby, closest one is about 75 miles away. Now- go forth and make faeries, woman! This is what I did- at WalMart I bought 5- 5 packs of a Rubbermaid container, it's a decent size, clear top and bottom, deep enough to hold some excelsior and the faerie. (Our deli uses cups instead of boxes, rats.) Then from Hobby Lobby I got some wired gold ribbon (50% off!) to wrap around the container to disguise its clearness. On top of that I'll put a little pinecone pick, it's wired with some cones and berries together and a smidge of greenery. I'll make a tag for each one using my alphabet stamps, "Gardenia" or "Fuchsia" or whatever and tie that to the package top with a gold cord. Voila! It'll soon all be done, yay, and for less than a dollar each! And all the recipients will have a faerie AND a new container for leftovers! lol Thanks for all the help and ideas and brainstorming with me, ladies!