I believe there's some large elephant ear leaves at my uncle's place. I'll have to check with his daughter to see if I can snag one. Once I do... expect to get a barrage of questions from me... I so want to give this a try!
No problem Cheryl, Ask away. :-D Plan on making a couple of them. the practice is good experience for making the larger ones.
As I was out picking beans and weeding this morning, I was looking around at the plants in my garden, thinking... HMMMM.... the squash (zucchini, pumpkins, etc) leaf is cool, the okra would make a neat birdbath and so would some of the grape leaves, so give them time to mature and the size may be just perfect for you. Just a few ideas for other leaves to use for your birdbaths.
Just make sure you let it(them) set at LEAST 24 hours, before turning over. I broke one just the other day and it had been sitting for 22 hours, but, I THINK, the humidity is so high it didn't cure very fast.
This is excellent as I have been wanting to have a go at this for ages/years but didn't have a clue where or how to start. You can be sure i'm off to the DIY shop to check out their cements in the near future. Thanks so much for this tutorial and the great fotos. Just gotta find me some decent leaves now. :-o
Carolyn--I love this post. I have bought one of those leaf bird baths, and have enjoyed it over the years. I look forward to my retirement when I will have time for garden projects like this.
Hi Jodilee and Cayuga Morning, thanks for the kind words. this project is really easy. It also is a very quick one, you spend more time getting the materials together than actually making the birdbath. CM, you don't have to retire to do this project, it is really very easy and quick!!!! the longest part of the project is actually waiting on the concrete to cure so you can seal it. No watching and waiting for the exact right time to do something for any part of it. turn it over after a few days of curing, sit and wait on it to finish curing, remove the leaf and seal it. It's not like sweetcorn where you have only 3 days to harvest the entire patch and put it up in your spare time. So go ahead and give it a whirl. they make great gifts and Christmas is coming sooner than you expect.
Carolyn, Thank you for your encouragement. I might just. I walk with a friend tomorrow and I believe she grows rhubarb. That might be a good source of huge leaves. You are right, it would make a great present. Thanks!
I love this idea! I was wondering if you used the type of concrete that contains rocks in it, or if it is the smoother variety (stone free) that gets used when making molds.
