The crafty side of me

I'm not much of an artist, though I sure wish I was. I have to go with simple creative projects.

Like this one: Last summer, I acquired some inspiration from a city park in Llano. There James and I saw river rocks inscribed with plant names and then coated with shellac. I loved the idea. Hence, I set to work on some for our Wildscape. They turned out really nice. Over the course of the past year, though, nature has roughened up the appearance of many. So this afternoon, I gathered them up for repairs and made a checklist of new ones I need to make.

My only problem so far: I can't remember where I stored the varnish! Darn it. (Sometime in the future, I think I'll try a product called Mod Podge.)

And now take a look at my first attempt at a concrete mosaic. I officially set the piece in our Wildscape this afternoon. I know, I know. Not very impressive, but I've always wanted to try my hand at this. If you do, too, I recommend a great how-to book entitled Easy Mosaics for Your Home and Garden by Sarah Donnelly. This craft requires very few materials (a box of concrete from the hobby store and mosaic pieces).

Be forewarned: There's a real trick in mixing up the concrete just right or your pieces will either completely sink (and disappear) or not sink enough (then fall off after drying).

I made my second mosaic this afternoon and had an easier time setting in my glass pieces. I definitely recommend using a small mold for your first several projects so you can get the hang of working with concrete.