Garden Birds

Easy garden decor – Create a flock of cement birds for a quirky addition to a flowerbed.

What you will Need

2 hollow plastic balls, a larger one for the bird’s body and a smaller one for the bird’s head
Releasing agent (e.g. cooking oil)
Cement
Fine river sand
Thick wire (or brazing rods)
Epoxy

Tools

Blade, trowel and bucket, side cutters, drill and a drill bit the same diameter as the wire/brazing rods

Steps

1. Cut a hole in the top of each ball and coat the inside with a releasing agent.

2. Mix together 1 part cement, 3 parts fine river sand and water to make a runny mixture that can pour easily. Pour the mixture into the balls and allow to cure for a few days. Once the concrete has cured, cut the plastic balls open to remove the concrete spheres.

3. Drill two holes for the bird’s legs (the diameter of the wire) in the bottom of the large concrete ball. Drill one hole in the top of the same ball in the position where you would like the head to be placed. In the small ball, drill a hole for the ‘neck’ of the bird. At the front of the ball drill two more holes close together, for the beak.

4. Cut the brazing rods/ wire into the correct lengths for the beak, neck and legs of the bird. Remember that a part of the legs will be pushed into the ground, so make the legs longer than you want them to appear. Mix the epoxy together according to the instructions and use it to fix the beak onto the head, the head onto the neck, the neck onto the body, and the body onto the legs. Allow the epoxy to cure. For a more realistic pose, bend the bird’s legs at the ‘knee’. Position the birds in the garden by pushing the legs into the ground.