Expert: Leisha Hiester - 6/2/2009

Question
Hi.  I have the cutest little hand made garden gnome. :-) He is made of red terra cotta clay.  He was a Mother's Day gift. He got broken. :-( His feet are where the break occurred.  The break was pretty clean.  There are three large pieces that can be fit back together pretty easily. I had some of the Gorilla Glue in the gel pen form that I thought I'd try.  Problem is that it takes so long to dry and with the shape of this little guy's feet, clamping is nearly impossible.  So I couldn't keep the pieces together and it just all fell apart again.  Now my dilemma is that the Gorilla Glue is still on all of the pieces.  Any suggestions???  The job doesn't have to be "perfect" since I can stick him in the garden and hide his feet in the plants or the mulch.  But he can't stand up now with the front of both of his feet broken off. Any advice you can offer will be greatly appreciated.

Answer
Denise,
Is he hollow on the inside? If he is, here's an idea that will help him stay put in the ground and prevent any theft of his cuteness; fill the inside with plaster or even heavy cement (upside down of course) and place a yard stake into the center. You can then stake him back into the ground. You can support him upside down in a bucket with towels tucked around him while drying. Hope this works, hope it helps. Leisha