How to Make Hypertufa Birdbath Leaf

Line your mold with a black plastic trash bag. Smooth out the wrinkles and pull the ends of the bag over the outside of the bowl to keep them out of the way while you work.

Mix two parts peat moss with one part vermiculite and one part Portland cement in a 5-gallon bucket. Both peat moss and vermiculite are available in the gardening section of hardware and home improvement stores.

Add one part water to the mixture and combine thoroughly with a paint stirrer. Add additional water as needed until the mixture is just moist enough to hold together when squeezed.

Place some of the hypertufa mixture into the bowl and smooth it out to a 3-inch thickness. Shape the mixture to form the desired leaf shape for your basin, making sure the sides are deep enough to hold water. Add hypertufa as needed for a uniform 3-inch thickness.

Press twigs or lengths of quarter-inch dowels into the basin to mark the veins on the leaf. Push them in so they are sunk halfway into the hypertufa.

Cover the basin with plastic and set aside to dry for two to four weeks. Remove the plastic and carefully pull out the dowels. Allow the basin to dry for an additional two weeks after removing the plastic.

Pour melted paraffin into the basin. Wearing heavy gloves to avoid burns, smear the paraffin over the entire inside of the basin to make it waterproof. Allow it to dry. Set your birdbath on a tree stump, boulder or other stand and fill with water.