..was on the agenda yesterday! Anne, a friend and neighbour asked me if I would be interested in giving a mini workshop…Anne and her friend Teresa were interested in making cement leaves. I haven’t had my cement fix this summer so I was over there in a flash…after picking some gigantic weeds along the way!
In 15 minutes we had her once gorgeous backyard looking like a construction site… Teresa brought her two daughters along and they were wonderful helpers!!
Let me give you a quick lesson on how to make cement leaves…
Get some sand..and make a mound…look on the blue tray~
Add water to dampen the sand just enough so that you can shape the sand…
Build it up into the shape of your leaf~
Put your leaf down on the mound of damp sand with the VEIN side up and drape it over the mound of sand.
Now comes the fun, dirty part…pat layers of cement (1 part cement, 3 parts sand and enough water to make it into butter/cottage cheese consistency) onto the leaf. Go to the edge of the leaf…don’t go over. 
Patting the cement gets the cement down into and around the veins and it gets rid of any air bubbles.
Teresa is having just a little too much fun making these…
Cover the leaves with plastic as you don’t want them to dry too quickly. Anne will spray these with water at least once or twice a day…until they are hard..probably Sunday should do the trick! It takes a long time for them to get really hard so they have to be handled with care for the first little while…
Anne took a HUGE rhubarb leaf and is going to make it into a bird bath eventually. Here she is covering her creation with plastic…it is going to be magnificent!! 
Here’s a close-up…see all those wonderful veins…and the water trickling over them…
This is a Gunnera leaf nestled in amongst the petunias around our pond.
Or you can make flat stepping stones (just don’t make the mound of sand at the beginning…keep the damp sand flat…)
So there you have it…nothing like getting dirty with friends…!! ;o) Thanks Anne and Teresa (and girls) for inviting me over and Dawn for cheering us on!!
If you haven’t entered the GO! GIVE AWAY then GO! HERE to enter…GOOD LUCK!
Have a thrilling Thursday and Happy Quilting!~P
What a delightful tutorial! I would love to try this at some point...please do post the results- Sun or whenever! Thanks so much, Sandy
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely project, I can imagine my boys having fun making these
ReplyDeleteoh so amazing...i have to pass this along to my mom who is an avid gardener
ReplyDeletelooks interesting. I have some elephant ears that would work for the size of the leaf. most everything else is small.
ReplyDeleteHow awesome!!! I'd love to make these for my backyard!!! Thanks so much for this post.
ReplyDeleteLovely tutorial and thank you so much for sharing. I have entered for the Go and wishing I am going to be lucky...like we all do. LOL
ReplyDeleteWhat a fantastic idea! Thank you so much for sharing this with all of us! It looks like ya'll where having such a great time!
ReplyDeleteI had no idea these could be made!They are simply beautiful! Can I be your friend and get invited to your crafting parties?
ReplyDeleteOh my Paulette, now I want to play with cement! These are absolutely stunning!!!!!
ReplyDeleteYours turned out great. I'm in the process of making them too. Now picking out the veins - as I did rhubarb leaves, making bird baths!
ReplyDeleteWow, these are great! Have not seen these before, thank you.
ReplyDeleteThese are amazing!!! I can't wait to try making some...I see a new obsession on the horizon! :) Thank you so much for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThat is a neat idea, I love it.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun way to make your own steps too.
Debbie
Love, Love, Love this tutorial!!!! My mom was just mentioning to me that she wanted to make some cement art. This would be wonderful. She is an avid gardener. Right up her ally!!!! Thanks again.
ReplyDeleteSo special and so simple. They are beautiful:) Thanks for the great tutorial.
ReplyDeleteThose are great!!!! So perfectly leafy! Love your bubbling fountain.
ReplyDeleteHoly cow!!! These are terrific..do they actually withstand our Canadian Winters?
ReplyDeleteThese turned out amazing, I'm really surprised at how well the veins show up, I'll certainly have to keep this project in mind!
ReplyDeleteCement beauties !!
ReplyDeleteWow those are really pretty! Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI just love those, Paulette.
ReplyDeleteWe have an upscale antique/flea market about 20 miles from us and there's a guy there who sells similar concrete leaves with a very high price tag.
And I like yours better!
Pretty Cool!
ReplyDeleteA woman of many talents! Looks like you had a fun day. Hope you show us the results of the rhubarb leaf project.
ReplyDeleteCool! I've always wondered how those were made! Thanks for sharing....
ReplyDeleteThanks Paulette. Very facinating. I would love to try this tutorial.
ReplyDeleteLook out leaves here I come.
My daughter and I made a couple out of rhubarb leaves a couple of years ago. I painted it red and green but the sun has faded the paint. It was lots of fun. I think I may need some of the smaller ones to sit around the yard.
ReplyDeleteThese are great they are lovely
ReplyDeleteHugs Janice
OH my goodness - they are gorgeous!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteThey are fabulous. I'll have to have a hunt for some big leaves so I can have a go.
ReplyDeleteLove and hugs Gina xxx
Very cool. I have never seen this
ReplyDeletethose are fabulous! I've bookmarked your tutorial for when we move back to our house in a different state
ReplyDeleteVisiting from the Sew Darn Crafty party. Very nice. I did something similar a few years ago, but I used a form to make teardrop stepping stones around the leaves.
ReplyDelete