Hiya bright. I am certainly no expert or anything but I just made my first one the other day. I did the same thing, sifted out the gravel from my quickcrete. I also added a handful or two of play sand stolen from my kid's sandbox but I don't know how neccessary that was. I used a ribbed glass pyrex bowl for my cap, lined it with plastic wrap and scooped the concrete into it. I didn't fill it completely and just smoothed it up the sides of the bowl a little. It was mostly full but I did dig it out a bit in the center. Then, using r_murray's (I think that's his name) instructions, I stuck a cardboard tube from a roll of toilet paper (I should have used a paper towel one, it was too short) right in the wet concrete and poured more mix into the tube. Then I stuck a piece of 18" rebar down in the tube but didn't push it all the way down so it wouldn't poke through the cap of the mushroom. I set it in a windowsill in my garage and left it there for two days. The rebar is too long and it was hard to get it down into the ground, you really don't need the post that long but that's what I had. If I'd used the paper towel tube it wouldn't have been such an issue. Anyway, I think it turned out pretty cute but I will make some adjustments to the next one. My concrete mixture was thick enough that I was pretty much able to stick the rebar in right away without it sinking or falling over. If you make your concrete too wet then you may need to wait until it sets up a bit. It was fun to do and I'm going to make more this week. You can sand the rough edges of the concrete once it's dry to give it a better shape. I'm not sure if I'll mosaic mine or not, I kind of like it natural. I'll post pics later on. That base will be perfect for your mushroom! What's it from? Was it a candlestick?

Good luck and be sure to post pics!
Robin

Sounds like a good idea, Robin!

Last year I made some mushrooms but mine aren't connected. I did the tops and bottoms seperatly and just sat them on there. They work like that, too!

And I didn't sift out the stones from the Quikcrete, just try not to get a bunch in one spot...

Robin, Have you posted a picture of your mushroom yet??? I would love to see it. Thanks soo much for your reply. I may do some more later and create the stem from concrete as well. I'm still looking for a piece of pipe the base I'm going to use has a hole all the way through and I want the pipe to fit in the hole to make it more secure. I think the glass is from an old light or something, bought it at a ts last summer for like $1 or less. Have a couple of vacation days so projects, projects, projects!! LOL!!!

Thanks for your ideas too Sweets.. there are dogs and other critters around so having them in two pieces might not be too good of an idea. Did you post pictures of yours??

I saw somewhere to put bubble wrap in the form (sprayed with PAM to prevent the concrete from sticking). I did it last weekend and it makes a neat texture, not quite morel like but very organic. Since I used a kind of pointy form the bubble wrap folded which worried me but it turned out well, the concrete has folds. My problem is the stone I sprayed and stuck into the bottom middle to make a hole stuck! Tho I guess I can use it to stick into a stem. Mine is small so I could use a t-paper roll I think, thats a good idea. I didn't sift out the rocks for this project, but I want to try portland cement, or maybe even mortar mix for some others that I want to do in molds with delicate designs.

hey bright what part of nc are you in I live in lenoir are you familiar with it?

donna in nc

Yes Donna I know exactly where it is. Do you know where Rutherford county is? Just west of Shelby.

sure do how cool you are so close anyway good to know you

donna in nc

concretenprimroses what a great idea. I will certainly try adding bubble wrap to my list of GREAT ideas from this forum.

I'll post this again - hope it helps.

{{gwi:136529}}

Now these are some great ideas! I can just imagine what the bubble wrap would make it look like! Like I mentioned earlier, I made mine in two pieces and I won't ever do that again,since it was so hard to glue and clean up with the two tubes of bad GEII...but those were given to me for free so no refund, just learned lessons,lol! It was kind of grainy, so next time I'll know right away if it's bad( I hope!) Great photos, great instructions! Robert I love your little cluster of shrooms and your diagrams! Bright, I don't think I'd use glass for the stem myself, I know it would get broken either by my three grandchildren or sisters grandchildren, or get stomped and kicked by deer or large animal. I used foam coffee cups sprayed with Pam, but I'm going to try paper towel tubes next time.

I used paper beverage containers to make stems - separate from caps and ahead of time. After they cured, I removed the paper from them - and made the caps.

As caps were setting up, I would push stem into the cap to make the right sized hole .... I generally didn't let the stem set up there - but rather just made the right size depression.

For me, the issue was that my mushrooms are LARGE and it is easier to move them in two pieces. It is easier to arrange the stem in the soil and then place cap on top.

donnainnc, I'm even closer to you than bright is I believe! I live in Sherrills Ford! Know of any good places to go junking in Hickory? I know where Goodwill and Salvation Army are but that's about it.

Robin

Us NC webbers need to get together some time. There's not much in my area. It's too small. I would have to come your way.

Yes, a get together sounds great!

Wannadanc, do you have pictures of your mushrooms? I just made two more yesterday. I found a cardboard tube from a rug we had bought and used that. But because the tube was so thick (I had to cut it with a saw!) I cut the bottom off a plastic grocery bag and lined it with that first. I knew it would never peel away. The other new one I made I used a tube from a roll of wrapping paper and a shallower bowl...I'm going for a portobello look with it. But the one with the rug tube is much bigger and I'd love to make a really big one, like birdbath sized...any advice on how to do that?

Thanks,
Robin

Robin - this shows the two pieces and if you move back one frame you can see it assembled.

Here is a link that might be useful: two part mushroom in hypertufa

oh that sounds great girls and robin a good place to go is habitat for humanity on hwy 70 I love to go there they are so much cheaper than sal army and goodwill. maybe 1 sat in june we can all meet in hickory have lunch and hit the thrift stores

Robert, every time I look at the photo of your mushrooms, I'm just struck by how 'natural' that little group looks.
Its wonderful.

hugs, Karen