Concrete vase DIY...from a plastic bottle

....from a plastic bottle.

 

I am back!

Feels like I've been on blogging holiday for ever, not just 1 week...but now I'm back!

I have lots to tell you all about, like the furniture painting commissions I have been doing and Our bedroom  makeover progress, amongst other things... But just to ease myself back into it, I wanted to share another quick little concrete project tutorial with you today...

This one all starts with a plastic bottle...

When my mum and dad went back to Norway last week, they left behind this beautiful faceted plastic water bottle...(That's how my mind works...see beauty in everything!!)

I immediately knew what to do with it!!

I'd seen Ben Ueyda''s concrete bottle vases a few weeks ago, and knew that the shape of this humble plastic bottle would make a fantastic concrete vase...

This is so easy to do, so keep your eyes peeled for lovely shaped bottles next time you are shopping, and you can make your very own concrete vase...

Here's how:

You will need:

Plastic bottle

Quick setting concrete mix

water

mixing vessel/ mixing stick

dinner candle (or anything else you may have to create a long tubular cavity in your vase, such as a thick pen...)

Marker pen

scalpel 

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The first thing to do is to work out how much concrete mix you will need, and to what level you want to fill your bottle:

The easiest way to work this out, is to fill your bottle with water, then push  the candle into the bottle through the top....add or remove water until you are happy that the level in the bottle will work for your vase...Remove the candle, and mark the level of the water off with the marker pen on the bottle...Now you have determined the volume of the cavity left by the candle, and to where you want to fill the bottle with the concrete mix.

TIP: Use approximately half of the water left in the bottle to mix up the concrete for a "governors geige" (A decent estimation of how much you will need to mix up to fill the volume)...

1. Mix up the concrete...not too thick, just runny enough to pour into the bottle. Pour it into the bottle and tap a few times to get rid of any air bubbles in the mix...

2. Push the candle in, and leave to set.

TIP: Try to twist the candle out when the concrete has just set, but don't worry if you don't catch it in time...

3. When the concrete has fully set (approx. 1-2 hours), use your scalpel to cut the top off the bottle...

4. Rip off the plastic bottle.

5. Leave your concrete vase to cure for a couple of hours.

If, like me, you didn't manage to twist the candle out in time, simply light the candle and let it burn down...Use the hot liquid wax to coat the inside of your vase to water-proof the cavity..

This worked for me, but if you find that the flame keeps going out towards the bottom, use a knife to cut out the remnants of the wax, and coat the inside with PVA to waterproof instead...

Sand back any rough edges on the top of your vase...

...and there you have it: A concrete vase, perfect for displaying a single flower...make more than one and group together, or you can always just stick a candle in it instead...

 

Not only is it a unique and unusual item of home décor....that you have made yourself, but you have also re-used a throwaway item, a humble plastic bottle, to make something that will last a lifetime!!

So next time your recycling bin is full of empty plastic bottles, pick up a bag of concrete (about £5) and make some vases or candlesticks, before taking all that plastic to the dump!

xxx

June