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[L135]Lawn And Garden Ornaments

by Grand Illusions, Gra

There is no doubt that garden ornaments are quite popular, and have been growing in popularity over the last few years. And, these are not simply the lawn and garden ornaments that our parents and grandparents had in their yards. More modern lawn and garden ornaments are very beautiful, even classy; you don't have to go for the cheesy garden gnome look, if you don't want to. Instead, you can choose to decorate your garden with glass, crystal, and simply beautiful ornaments. If you like butterflies, fairies, frogs, gazing balls, decorative thermometers, or just about anything else you'll find that there are great ornaments that will dress your lawn and garden up a bit more and make it a place that you will love to be as well as a place that your friends and neighbors admire.

It doesn't matter whether you are looking for garden ornaments UK, or in the United States, because anywhere you go you'll find that there are plenty of lawn ornaments to go around! If you want something a bit bigger you'll find that there are also water garden ornaments that are just as beautiful as the smaller ornaments. You can choose from small waterfalls, fountains, birdbaths, ponds, and more. Water features such as this can act as a great focal point for the lawn or garden, and make a great addition to a lawn or garden that already is decorated nicely with garden ornaments. Garden ornaments are a fun way to dress up the outside of your home as beautifully as you decorate the inside of your home.

Grand Illusions was created by Nick Ronald and David Roberts in December 1987, initially with just one small store in St Margaret's, Twickenham. The mission was to promote gifts, cards and accessories of good design and taste at an affordable price - still very much the core business ethic to this day.

Shortly afterwards, they discovered and developed a paint range that was to transform their lives. In those days, painted furniture was something of a rarity, and a twenty two drawer chest painted in one of the new paints caught the eye of 'Homes & Gardens' magazine - the small feature resulted in over a thousand telephone calls and the seeds of the highly acclaimed furniture collection were sewn.

This also led to the publication of three Grand Illusions books on decorating techniques and design inspiration, published in five countries by Ebury Press and accompanied by guest appearances on BBC2's Home Front and various local BBC radio stations.

They published their first mail-order catalogue in 1990 which was immediately voted as one of the top 200 catalogues in a new worldwide review and several issues later, they were awarded the contract to operate 'Country Living by Post' on behalf of the magazine, in addition to their own unique programme.

Today, the company's activities are currently concentrated on their two stores in St Margarets and Shaftesbury, with mail-order, paint studio, trade-sales and distribution also located in Dorset. The team regularly exhibit at quality retail and trade fairs like Country Living, Top Drawer and the RHS Flower Shows at Chelsea, Hampton Court and Tatton Park. Their products are now available at quality retail outlets across the UK and some stores in Japan, USA and Germany.

The publication of this web-site sees the return to mainstream mail-order for the accessory collection, which is just one of the exciting developments planned for the near future - so watch this space.

With hand made molds and very simple production methods a large variety of concrete products can be made. Concrete blocks are used in many kinds of building projects and are a basic commodity of the building trade. You can easily make 100 blocks per day with hand made molds.

The number one selling garden ornament is the concrete bird bath. There is a huge demand for birdbaths and they sell extremely well. It is easy to make a range of different styles using hand made molds and they can be sold directly to the public or to building supply and garden stores.

Transporting concrete products for any distance is expensive due to their size and weight. Local stores are very pleased to have a local supplier who has low costs and a very competitive price. With no transportation costs it is possible to make excellent profits.

Many other kinds of garden ornaments and concrete garden furniture can be made from available plans. Huge 'Ali Baba' style vases and other vases large and small can be made without the use of molds. The simple production methods used to manufacture these can be learnt quickly. They are excellent patio and garden decorators and sell very well. These are great additions to a concrete block business. They are highly profitable.

A wide variety of other concrete ornaments can be made from either commercial or hand made molds and there is a great demand for these. By starting a part time business,working from your garage,the risk is eliminated.

Your startup costs are only the price of the sheet metal and plywood required to make your cement block molds. The concrete mix is made from Portland cement with sand,gravel and water.

As the business grows you can progress to full time work when you are ready. For volume production of cement blocks a concrete block making machine is a necessity. Several companies manufacture these machines,however they are quite expensive. The best choice may be to build your own machine.

Plans are available for building a very good machine from auto parts,sheet metal and a few bits and pieces. One of these machines can be built for a fraction of the cost of a commercial model. It can turn out hundreds of blocks daily.

A growing business will require premises large enough to accomodate the racks on which the cement blocks are kept while drying. A helper to move the blocks from the machine to the racks is also a requirement at this stage. The volume of business now possible will however more than justify the extra expenses.

A concrete products business can be started with minimal cash outlay. With hard work it can be built into a high profit full time enterprise. Demand for concrete products never dies and the sky is the limit in this excellent business opportunity. You can have an income you could only dream about while working as an employee for someone else.

Article Source : Pg. 50

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