1. People have used everything in hypertufa, including dog food. Just remember that all organic materials will rot out eventually, so consider if that will compromise the strength or looks of your project. 2. If you have to save some of your mix, be sure to immediately put it in double plastic bags or other moisture-proof container so it doesn't absorb moisture from the air. When attaching the two pieces, be sure to soak both halves and let them drain just a bit. Mortaring two dry pieces together doesn't work -- it won't stick well. 3. To give a pitted surface, press rock salt into the wet concrete. When the concrete is set, wash/melt the salt out. DO NOT leave the salt in the concrete, as it will weaken it. Sue

Thanks for the ideas TE and Jo. That rock making class must have been fun. Sounds like you didn't need much prep work for the latex. It may not have been necessary but I gave my rock a good scrubbing and coated it with Murphy's oil soap. After imbedding some nylon mesh with a couple more layers of silicone I peeled the patch off yesterday. Only a small amount of rock pieces stuck to it but it was still quite tacky. Maybe I didn't blot the soap off enough. I made sure to do thin layers and waited 24hrs between them. It's less sticky today but not nice and firm like the top layer. I didn't bother with adding acrylic paint to the 1st layer but did with the next 3. The edges are nicely feathered though. I'd like to attatch it around a 2" dowel and use it like a paint roller if it cures a bit more. TE, tour brick faces sound neat but I'm definately looking to cast them in one shot. Guess the wax wouldn't be a good choice for this project. I did try casting on some 3/4" crushed stone and some woodchips covered with plastic but I didn't like the plastic bag lines around the indentations. Pea gravel would probably be better - it's probably smaller than what I used. Also using handi wrap instead of a garbage bag might make a difference. I haven't seen any 18' wide plastic wrap at the supermarket though. I'm not looking fot a very pronounced texture for driveway pavers. I'm sort of going for the tumbled paver look and am also trying to incorperate rounded corners in the mold. If we weren't making so many I'd take a file to the edges but DH definately wouldn't go for that. I made a mold with 2x4's with mini blind slats glued around the top that worked OK but I don't know how well it will hold up with repeated castings. I checked out the styrofoam at Home Depot - $12.98 for the 2'x8'x1.5" but they were out of stock.... wish they had it in smaller pieces so I could try it out before investing that much. There was a previous discussion about concrete sticking to various types of styrofoam but I can't find it. I think I remember you saying it doesn't stick to the kind you use. Is this correct or do you use a release agent ?

I have a lot of wax paper. Like way too much. I couldnt use it all even if I tried. So I figured hey I can use it for seeds. Or should i just put them in baggies and then in the refrigerator.. whats best in your opionion? This will be my first time saving seeds.

I also want to find out the method of using wax to hold the beads on the cow skull. Doesn't the wax dry out? Is the wax permanent? I have been using E6000, but it is very difficult to use with tiny seed beads. Wax seems easier. It must be a secret because I can't find any info on it.