I relooked at my other post about the cement birdbath and then got the instructions I was given by my daughter-in-law's mother. They are from Garden Gate Magazine (gardengatemagazine.com) so instead of taking pics of the pages and posting them, I am just going to post the website as it's the same thing. After making the mound of sand and placing the leaf on it, we did not cover the leaf up with plastic as it states. We just placed the cement right over the leaf till it was all covered. We did cover them up with plastic after making them so their dogs didn't get into them and wreck them. If you don't mind the rough edges when they're dry, that's fine. Otherwise, try using a brick to sand the edges down when it's dry. Have fun and I can't wait to see all the new birdbaths being made. As I said, I haven't sealed mine yet nor painted the leaf yet. Not even sure I'll do that part really. I just love mine as it is. You can also use this cement recipe for making stepping stones. A few of the gals stuck the colored half marbles in the cement and they came out great.

Sal

http://www.gardengatemagazine.com/extras/53birdbath1.php

(yes, this is the same website someone posted in my previous msg.) If you have any question, just write a msg in this post and I'll keep looking back at it.