I used a cement mix, cement and sand and skimmed it onto a double layer of wire mesh...it oozes thru a bit so don't smoosh too hard, or it will go right thru, I ended up taking a whole bunch off one area when I realized it was Really too thick, just put it on somewhere else and si even mosaiced and grouted I can still lift this bad boy!ha! Barely! I hope you post pics of your Fairey Garden, I plan to make one too...and a gnome garden and a "Old Lady who lived in a ...boot...Garden" heh I'm gonna stay busy for a few months!ha! Working on finishing the pond this weekend where this castle will sit! sooo close....

ginny, really, not to worry.you're o.k. if you had a shattered piece, it would be awful but i think with cmeent and a clean break there's no huge worry. and yes, mark's solution is for outdoors cement. also, i think the treflers person you spoke to probly was just giving the 'lawsuit safe' answer. they could definitely fix it if you don't want to try it yourself. they've done a number of things for me over the years. you might also want to talk to your local masonry yard; they do sell concrete/cement sealants. we used such on an outdoor slate fntn because of flaking potential but we have never treated our outdoor cement sculptures. best, mindy

Oh my goodness! This is what I envisioned and was searching the web to see if I could find a picture where somebody else did it… Thank you, thank you, thank you! This is so beautiful! I would love to see some pictures of it as it has aged with its verdigris patina! Well done! And, thank you so much for sharing!

I came to this particular forum to find some hints for doing this since I'm going to do some Rhubarb leaves this weekend, but instead of flat, I am going to have them curve. I have had some instructions from Martha Stewarts website for over a year now. The first part is similar to GardenGirl's, but to keep the shape and curves of the leaf, they lay the leaf on #1 fine sand sort of mounded so the leave can keep a curved shaped and then put the cement mixture on the back of the leaf. I'd like to try to do the mirror part from the Martha Stewart site. I saw the show and they had some cool ideas, (If I could only remember them all.) I'm going to have to find the BHG instructions and try this several ways. Peggy Here is a link that might be useful: Fossil Leaf Mirror