For today's craft I'm incorporating two crafts - possibly three if you count recycling! My initial idea was to create just one truly, authentic miniature garden of Gethsemane. However during the day I changed my mind and decided to create four not-quite-so mini and not-quite-so authentic gardens instead, hoping to make sales of at least three of them.
I collected or bought everything I'd need: decorative stone/gravel that I already had; mini plants from a garden centre; moss, stones and soil from our garden; Mod-roc and some empty packaging from my junk modelling stash.
Having filled the containers with soil I then set about making the caves from Mod-roc. If you haven't used Mod-roc before it's like bandage impregnated with plaster. I've used Mod-roc for the first time only a week ago and found it to be a great medium for sculpture. It could be used as an alternative to papier mache, one benfit for me is that it dries really quickly. To make the cave shape I first covered an upside-down yoghurt pot with foil which I bent into shape. In one bowl I cut up strips of the dry Mod-roc and in another I mixed some water with a bit of black food colouring. The Mod-roc usually dries white but I wondered whether by adding the colouring I might not have to paint it later. To use the Mod-roc you just dip each strip in the water, gently squeeze off excess water and then apply it to the foil. Once the Mod-roc is on the foil you need to rub the Mod-roc to release the plaster, making the 'holes' disappear. Though not intended, by the time I had covered the foil I was able to remove the yogurt pot and the cave held its own shape. I also made four boulders using foil and Mod-roc.
To build up the gardens I positioned the caves first and then simply added in the plants, moss, stones and paths. 
The gardens are not meant to last like this for ever, the small plants should be taken out and will continue to grow in the garden. It's hard to tell from the photos but the caves came out really well. The Mod-roc dried with a grey-ish green tinge. Again I think photos taken in natural light would show up better. It's supposed to be sunny tomorrow, I'll try and take some photos outdoors.
Update: It was sunny, here our outside photos......
Once again thank you to eldest daughter for fabby photos!
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