What you’ll need:
Plastic bowls in varying sizes Cooking oil (canola) Putty knife Quikrete Cement Basting brush Plastic cups (regular and beer size) Utility knife Packing tape Water Acrylic paints Small paint brushes Acrylic clear gloss spray paint
removed. Then cut a line down the side of the cup and peel it off. Thanks to Desmond’s great oiling job
we had no problem removing the mush- rooms from the bowls after we turned them over. If you do have problems you can use the putty knife to loosen the bowl around the rim. This is where having a more flexible bowl is benefi- cial. They are easier to remove from the formed cement than the stiffer bowls. Unfortunately we had an incident
with our large mushroom. The base fell off. To be fair, I have to take the blame. I shouldn’t have moved the cup around so much trying to ensure it was centred and level. Also, it probably wasn’t a good idea to pick it up by the stem before it was finished drying. Thankfully we still had three little mushrooms to paint. I sprayed the mushrooms with two
bases of acrylic paint and then let the boys choose their mushrooms. Using regular acrylic paint we set about deco- rating the mushrooms and let them dry. Once they were fully dry I sprayed them with a final two layers of acrylic clear coat. They turned out wonderfully! We are
going to add these ones to our garden but are making more for their grandpas for Father’s Day. These are an ideal gift for dads who love to garden, an addi- tion to a fairy or gnome garden, or a gift for a friend. You can make several for a garden bed as they are quite inex- pensive and easy to do. If you are going to make some of these this summer show us how they turned out, email me at
tania@pegasuspublications.net or upload your photos on our Facebook page. s
localgardener.net
Ensure the mushroom forms are dry before moving them.
An acrylic clearcoat will protect the paint from the elements. Spring 2016 • 43
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