Tabletop Fountain

Today, I thought I would start a tabletop fountain with fig leaves from our fig tree.  I am starting with making the bowl/basin.  I mounded up the wet sand that will shape the basin then covered the sand with saran wrap. Next, I placed the leaves in a circle with leaf tips pointing down.  Spray with Pam cooking spray. Start adding and working the concrete (refer to concrete mix info on my leaf casting page) from the center down to the tips of the leaves.  Remember, you need to have it at east 1/4" along the edge of the bowl.  Let it set up for an hour or so then cover with plastic to help prevent cracking.

Fig leaves to form basin

Spread concrete over the leaves

Leaf Castings

I came across these fountains on Pinterest a few weeks ago and fell in love.  The beautiful fountain leaves are actually stained or painted concrete leaf castings.  Elephant Ears were used for the fountain in the photo on the left and Gunnera leaves for the fountain in the photo on the right.  What a great idea for the perfect garden fountain.   I knew it was time to research how to do it.   The great thing about blogs is we can read about the process and what others have experienced...  make note of not only what has worked but especially note what doesn't work... no need to repeat history if something doesn't work.

Since I have friends interested in learning how to do leaf casting, I thought it might be helpful and fun to post my own experiences with making leaf castings and eventually the assembly of my first fountain.  I haven't found instructions for fountain assembly online but surely it can't be too difficult.  My husband will help, he has been a big help for the leaf castings.  He has much more experience with concrete than I do.   Here on my blog you will hear about both my successes and failures... both are helpful.  Please feel free to make suggestions or comments and share your experiences...  that is what it's all about.