Concrete and cements planters and tea-light holders...

 

This week I was tidying up my supply shed, and came across a bucket of cement and a bag of concrete mix I bought a while ago...I had a project in mind when I bought them (watch this space...)

, but as it is quite an ambitious project, I decided to play around with the cement and concrete....

I had seen these concrete planters  and some lovely tea light holders from one woman's haven  and  this was my inspiration....plus I thought this would be a great way to get to know these materials before I tackle the project I have in mind...

So I rummaged through my box of empty plastic containers and bottles (I save almost everything that I think can come in handy one day, my way of recycling...drives Mr insane...!), found some suitable shapes and sizes, and went to work....

Here's what I did:

 

 I started small: making some tea light holders out of my cement...

I had my cement at the ready: I used Wickes Rapid setting cement,

plastic containers to use as moulds, a couple of tea-lights and a bucket and spatula for mixing......

I wanted add some detail in the cement, so I grabbed some lace washi tape and stuck it into my plastic containers (these used to contain baking powder...)

...to make sure the (fabric) lace washi tape wouldn't get stuck in the cement, I dabbed a bit of cooking oil onto it once positioned in the "mould"...(taking care not to disturb the positioning..)

Then I measured out my cement using my kitchen scales....

The ratio for this particular cement mix is 0,25 litres water to 1 kg cement powder...

I mixed in the water to form a smooth, runny paste...

...poured it into my moulds...taking care not to fill them to the top, as I needed to account for the volume of the tea-lights....

Then I simply pushed the tea-light into the centre of the cement.

This specific cement will set in 20 minutes...so work quickly...

You may have to keep pushing the tea-lights down, so they don't float up, but I found  that after a few minutes, they stayed in place by themselves...

( It might have helped that this was a particularly hot day...)

Then leave to set....check after 10-25 minutes, and remove the tea-lights whilst the cement still has a bit of give to it...

I also used the cement to make a plant-pot, using a giant silicone cup-cake mould I had...

...and had a couple of plastic jelly moulds at the ready for any leftover cement mix... 

 

....again, I made sure to remove the plastic container I had used to create the cavity in my plant-pot, before the cement had set fully...

 ...this is so much easier than trying to get it out when the cement is fully set, and will also help speed up the drying time....

After 20-30 minutes...the cement is fully set, and I could peel off the silicone mould on my plant pot...

The tea-light holders were a bit more tricky to remove from the rigid plastic moulds...

...but here's a little trick I learned during my years as a mould-maker in the film industry:

The reason it is hard to remove a solid shape from a rigid mould, is because there will be a vacuum  created inside that will suck the form in...way to release this vacuum, is to drill a small hole in the bottom of the mould, then poor a little water in for lubrication....

....and simply use the back of the drill bit to gently push out the shape...

When they were out of the moulds, I peeled off the lace washi tape....

It didn't leave the detailed impression I was after, I think because it was made of fabric! Next time I will try to get hold of something else to use...

Looking a little rough around the edges...think I  am going for a rustic look!!

 Next I thought I'd play with my bag of concrete...to see how that compared to using cement...

 

I used Tarmac multipurpose concrete, a big bucket for mixing and some a cheap plastic planter from the pound shop as a mould...with a disposable plastic beaker to create a cavity....

 

I roughly measured out my concrete, by using my mould as a measuring cup...

I put the cement in the bucket, created a little dip in the middle then added water...

I pulled on my Marygold rubber gloves and got stuck in... (don't try to do this with bare hands, as the concrete will really dry out your skin and can cause dermatitis....also please wear a DUST MASK!!)

You can see the difference between the cement mix and the concrete straight away: the concrete has bits of rough gravel running through it, and makes a lumpy mix....

The concrete:water ratio can be varied...as I wanted the mix to be pourable, I added a bit more water...

 

 I poured the mix into my container...a little shy of the top, then pushed the plastic beaker into the centre...as I found that the beaker kept floating up and out of position, I filled the beaker up with concrete mix as well, to way it down...I also pushed another plastic container into this, filled this up with more concrete, then added a tea-light in the centre...(was trying to be clever and make 3in1....didn't really work here, but would have worked well with the cement mix I think...)

As I had more concrete mix leftover, I dug out the top half of my silicone cake mould, and filled this up as well...repeating the process above...

The concrete took about 2-3 hours to start setting.... 

I kept checking, and when I felt the concrete was set enough to hold its shape, I wiggled out the containers in the middle...

Then I left it for another couple of hours, before peeling back the silicone on the smaller concrete plant pot.... 

I turned it over so that it could dry out in the sunshine...

The bigger one took a little longer to set....

but after about 4 hours, I simply turned the mould over, gave it a few heavy handed taps, and the concrete just fell out...I guess it was so heavy that gravity helped....

Again, there was a few bits that crumbled off here and there...

I repeat: going for (accidental) rustic feel here!!

I put all of my concrete and cement shapes in a sunny spot to dry out and left them all to fully cure over night...

Then the next day I got my palm-sander and neatened off the tops and any rough edges....

Looking rustic, but nice for my first attempt at using concrete and cement...

 

After a quick trip to homebase, I added some suitable plants (don't ask me what they are...I have no idea...I just read the care labels in the shop, and went for plants that wound grow in rockeries and shallow ground...) I guess these would be nice for succulents as well!!

I love the contrast between the concrete/cement and the lush green of the plants...

...and I especially like the swirly,conical concrete planter (that was made by fluke, really)..

it is so unusual in that it cant stand up.....

and my little tea-light holders look nice as well!

What do you think?

Not bad for a first attempt, hey??

I had a lot of fun playing with the concrete and cement...and I've learned a lot!

I think  the cement is easier to work with, and would be my choice for the project I have in mind....

I probably will not tackle that one until  Little Miss Moo is back at school though...

I hope you will all have a great weekend...

xxx

June