Well I think I have finally adjusted to being alone in the house during the day. Early in the week I finally got around to fixing my hypertufa planter that I made and broke last fall. It was so large and heavy that when I turned it over I dropped a few inches and broke off one side into several pieces. That was a frustrating reminder that patience always pays off. I had made an attempt this spring at a repair but was interrupted by a visitor and the cement mortar dried fast and basically made the situation even worse. I think it looks fine now but probably not very strong so I don't intend to move it. Its really too heavy to move anyway and I know my husband hasn't enjoyed moving these planters around too much. I love their rustic earthy look! 
I also played around and made a few cement mushrooms but the paper towel roll bases in my first attempt were much too small. So I made a rough cylinder form with some cardboard and tape that should make a sturdier base. I am hoping if I "plant" them in a shady spot I can get some moss to grow on them a bit. A buttermilk and crumbled moss mixture is a good starter for that.
This is one photo of my lopsided cement balls. I just filled in with concrete a few deflated balls the kids broke. I peeled off the plastic ball early so I could smooth it a bit too.I took a bunch of photos of Mexican stone carvings down at the Museum of Natural History in NY this summer and would love to try making something like them in hypertufa. I think I will avoid some of the interesting "fertility" sculptures that might get too much attention from the kids though. They seemed amused enough at the museum!
I am busily working on my little birds and finished this one this week.
I just had to make something for Halloween and made this little display of pumpkins.
Take a look at this cute Etsy Treasury! Its called "I do ... do you?" by terbearco.
1 comment:
Yeah I know what you mean about being heavy those planters :) I know one of the first things we made with hypertufa my brother ended up breaking a small corner of the planter off. We had to do a small fix job as well. We just used cement mortar and it worked fine. Once it was done we carved some up making an indentation and applied more hypertufa mix and it blended right in, couldn't even notice now that it broke.
I know using hypertufa is suppose to be a lightweight mixture but they are still heavy. We used hypertufa and made some hypertufa pilars and they must weigh still about 100 lbs. We just finished doing a well piece and it must weigh 150 lbs. and up. It's fun to do and the creativity that one can do with this stuff is endless.
I can totally understand why your husband doesn't like moving your hypertufa planters around :) I know what it's like :)
Great blog and will stop by again.
Sincerely,
Jamie Boyle
Hypertufa Gardener
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