The cement stoop in front of the garage door had been slowly crumbling away and drained the wrong way, so Joe decided to buy some quick-set concrete and fix it.
I've always really liked the idea of leaving initials or handprints in wet cement. I remember, as a little girl, walking down the sidewalk watching for the little ovals pressed into the cement, with name of the company that laid that stretch of sidewalk, and the year it was done. (I always especially liked finding ones with my birth year... those were my "lucky" squares!) I also liked the rare dog or cat footprint I'd sometimes find accidentally, but permanently, cast in the cement...
It was a lazy kind of afternoon, and R, M and I were on the front porch playing games while Joe worked. As Joe got the form ready for the new cement, I was kind of playing around with the idea that it would just be wrong to waste a whole square of beautiful, brand new, wet cement.
It was calling out to me... it needed to be decorated somehow.
I ended up bringing down the big classroom chalkboard and playing around in chalk until I had a simple design that the kids and I liked. Luckily Joe was agreeable to letting me play in his wet cement...
Here's the finished product (with the wood and metal form still around it)
And a close up...
Each of us did two handprints... From the top of the circle, the lighter handprint above the "J" and going clockwise the handprints belong to Joe, Joe, M, me, me, R,R and M. I did have an order we were going to do them in (alternating larger and smaller) but the cement was drying too fast to use our pattern... we just had to quickly get our hands pressed into it before it was too dry. I used a scrub brush to make a texture and darken the area around our family "wreath".
Once it's dry, if I really like it I'll probably seal it... (and if I really don't like it I can always pour a little more quick-set over the top!)... but I think it will stay. It looks good, and cement is meant to be decorated. :)
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