craftgrrl | How to cast concrete Leaves

I'm still on the concrete kick!
Sorry these pics are blurry, it's always evening when I am making these, and not good for photography.

First start with some big, clearly veined leaves. Get some sand, and make a pile out of it, to lay the leaf on, bottom-side up. This will make your leaf cast more bowl-like. Cover the sand with plastic wrap, so the sand doesn't get on the concrete, and then lay the leaf down on it.

I made the concrete using the pre-mixed sand/concrete mix this time. It's heavier than hypertufa, but I think stronger and more suited to being a bird bath. I mixed it relatively liquid, and used an old paintbrush to spread it over the top of the leaves. I made it about 1" thick in the middle, and maybe 1/2" thick at the edges. The brush helps when you are trying to follow the contours of the leaf edge, and lets you taper the thickness down around the edges too.
When the concrete was about 3/4" thick, I laid some hardware cloth mesh over it, and then covered that with more concrete for strength. I had read that you can also use drywall mesh tape for reinforcement, but I didn't have any of that lying around and I wasn't going back to the hardware store again.

Let it cure for a few days, keeping it moist and in the shade so it doesn't dry too fast and become brittle.
when it is really set, turn it over, and peel the leaf off. I also used the high pressure attachment on my hose to sort of blast with water one leaf which wouldn't really peel off. Once the leaf is off you can carefully knock off the rough edges (they are thin) so that the edge is well defined.
You can use concrete stain or outdoor paint to color them, but I quite like them as is so far.