Rethinking Cement...

Posted by Shoko

One of the 2015 home décor trends is supposedly cement. But it’s grey, blah and boring so what can you do with it? Well, it turns out there are many interesting projects using cement. The cool thing about cement is that it’s moldable, versatile and durable, especially for outdoor use. I saw one of my crafty friend’s posts on her Facebook page saying “look at my cement project, it turned out great and was super easy! Anyone wanna play with this stuff?” I immediately replied “yes!” so one rainy day, we took on a cement project to make candle holders, plant pots and garden objects. And I have to say, it WAS pretty easy and of course fun playing with mud. Here are the instructions:

What you need:

• A bag of Concrete – we used Fast Setting Quikrete purchased from RONA, a 55lbs bag should be plenty to do a few different objects
• A bucket for mixing concrete
• A tarp to protect the surface you are working on
• Plastic bowls of various shapes and sizes – check out the WIN store for these, especially in the kitchen section! You can also use milk cartons or any interesting shaped containers from your recycling bin
• Empty drink cans of various sizes
• A wooden stick 1/2” to 1” diameter
• Cooking spray
• A drill if you are making planters

Steps:

1. If you are making a planter, drill a drainage hole in the bottom of the plastic container you want to use.
2. Put concrete into the bucket and add water, mix well until you have pancake batter consistency. Start with a small amount since it’s hard to mix a large amount of concrete without a tool.
3. Spray the inside of your containers with oil – this will make it easier to take the final project out of the container. Then pour the concrete into plastic containers. Remember, this is the outer layer so if you pour concrete into milk carton, you’ll have a square shape candle holder or planter. When you are making a planter make sure you put a wooden stick in the whole you drilled so you have drainage.
4. Insert an empty drink can, or another container, into the concrete you just poured. This will create the hole to hold a plant or candle. Use rocks or coins to weigh down the can if it floats back up.
5. Wait for about 1 hour then take out the cans, by this time the holes should be somewhat set.
6. Now, be patient. Leave your project for 24 hours. Once the waiting time is over you can take your project out of the container. Enjoy!

The picture on the left is the planter in progress and the two pictures on the right are candle holders. The yellow plastic container came from WIN, it was the perfect size and shape for making a candle holder!