Painted Birdhouses

I painted some birdhouses.  I gave 3 to my parents and kept 3.  I've never painted something like this, so I practiced on the back of each one, before I tried my design on the front.

I think they turned out pretty nice!  My parent's already have birds nesting in the birdhouses that I gave to them.  Mine are still empty, but I have some other bird houses in the yard full of nesting birds, so maybe they will be chosen to raise a little family next year.

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.