Just Add Water

What could be more fun than playing with cement?

Well, we could probably think of a few things, but this definitely has to rank high on the list. Maybe it dates back to when, as kids, we used to play in the mud, making mud pies, or just a big mess. Maybe it’s because it’s just fun to play with cement. Or maybe it’s because we spend too much time looking at craft ideas on Pinterest…I probably shouldn’t mention the 60 lb. bag I started out with over a year ago when I was going to make my own stepping stones. It got rained on and turned into a giant 60 lb. stepping stone, which I still plan to paint and put out in the yard somewhere. I mean, you can’t just throw stuff like that in the recycle, can you?So this time, I went for a much smaller bag (actually I bought two), and you will also notice it is made of plastic. And it is NOT being stored where it can get wet. So on with the story.In my never ending quest to find whimsical do-it-yourself ideas, I came across some articles about how easy it was to make your own concrete spheres for your garden. (I don’t mind saying, in retrospect, that the word “easy” should have been my first red flag.) So what you do first is find a rounded glass object that you can fill with wet cement. The article suggested a globe from a light fixture, but I figured some class bowls from Goodwill would work just as well. I was pretty happy that I had gotten these for a mere 98 cents each. It was super fun filling them up with cement.You have to let them dry for a couple of days. And now comes the part where I throw in the disclaimer: “Don’t try this at home!” To get your whimsical garden spheres out of the containers you have to break them. The directions said to put them in a bag and hit them with a hammer while wearing gloves and goggles. Then you were supposed to carefully put the broken glass into the recycle bin and, “There you are!”I didn’t take pictures of the glass-breaking part, but suffice it to say, in my case it involved a couple of Bandaids. Okay so all that’s left is to figure out what colors I want them to be and where in the garden I want to put them. (Haven’t gotten that far yet, I’ll let you know when I do.) Not to be deterred, I tried another, safer, method as well. For this one, you use something plastic, like a child’s bouncing ball.First you cut a hole in the ball so you can put the cement in. Well, that was easy enough. I had read where sometimes the plastic isn’t stiff enough to hold the spherical shape. This was in fact what happened to mine.But my goal was whimsy, not perfection, so I followed the directions and peeled the plastic ball off of the cement after it was dry.I have to say it was easier and much safer than breaking glass.Here is the way it looked after I got all the plastic off. Here is what it looked like turned upside down……and sideways. Okay so don’t laugh at my garden spheres. Once they are painted and placed in the yard they will be the envy of the neighborhood. Or not.There’s more to this post, but it will have to be in “Part 2”. I don’t want to give it away, but it has to do with blue paint, a styrofoam ball, and a bunch of glass gems.