Thursday, April 1, 2010

Cement Garden Mushrooms

I made a cement mushroom for my garden.
It was easy and fun!

First, I found a nice big bowl, sprayed it with Pam and then covered the bowl with plastic wrap.
Then I mixed up some cement and poured a little into the bottom of the bowl.

I put a few pieces of wire mesh (window screen) in the cement for added strength.


Then I topped up the bowl with cement and then added a bottle to each bowl.
The one on the right turned out to be too small (it looked silly), so I poured cement into a bigger bowl and added the too small mushroom.




I let the cement sit for about 10 minutes, until it was firm, then I popped the mushrooms out.
I put the mushrooms in a plastic bag with some water to cure.



Finally, I painted it with outdoor paint and gave it several layers of varnish.










7 comments:

  1. Do you think these will last outside in the winter? (the bottle part I mean). I'm trying to make things that I don't have to take in (less work in my older age).
    Kathy

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  2. Kathy - I think they would be fine. I don't plan on taking them inside and I left my totems and glass flowers outside all winter. We have very cold winter here and they all survived the winter.

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  3. Found your blog via post on GardenWeb awhile back & am ready to make my glass flowers. I live SE of Seattle, so loved your Pike Place post.

    I bought 1/2" electrical conduit, E-6000 glue, silverware, glass plates, cups, & beads. I have a few questions about your process & the sturdiness of them.
    Did you drill holes or just glue?
    What length of pipes did you do? What pipes were they?
    Any other building tips?

    I like the totems you made as well. Any tips for those? Our grandmas would love them, so I want to make several to give away.

    For the ones you kept in the garden any places you found work best? Next to a shrub, fence or other windbreak? Did you keep up year round or take down in winter?

    Did you use rebar in ground then slip pipe over it?

    Corrine

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  4. Olive Oyl - I used 3/4 EMT conduit, but 1/2 should work just fine. I glue the plates together with silicone glue (I'm not sure if E-6000 is a silicone glue?).
    I use a bell hanger from the plumbing supply department to attach the plates to the EMT conduit. Google bell hanger - if you want to see a pic of it.
    Yes - I use a piece of rebar in the ground with the EMT conduit over the top.
    I've had both my plate flowers and totem outside year round for 2 years now. They are out in 100+ degrees to -30 degrees. So far, as long as they stay upright (don't knock into each other) they are perfectly fine. I haven't had to reglue any of them.

    Hope this helps! Let me know if you have any more questions.

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  5. This mushroom is still going strong 2 years + later! It's not quite as shiny, but it's still very colorful and the bottle and everything is in perfect condition.

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  6. This is darling... what kind of concrete mix did you use that you were able to remove from the dish after only 10 minutes? was the dish plastic or glass? after 10 minutes it was able to sit "on a shelf" so to speak in plastic till it dried? thanks

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