Concrete and gold........Succulent planter and tea light votive...DIY

   

 When I made my concrete lampshade the other week, I found I had mixed up too much concrete...so I quickly grabbed a plastic laundry tabs container, and some empty play-dough cups....poured the rest of my concrete mix in, and this is the result...

...pretty beautiful for a spur of the moment make, hey??

 

I was bigging up concrete in my last post....but I really must say: A bag of concrete will cost you between £4-10, and there are endless beautiful makes you can use it for...

Save your old plastic containers, and when you've got 15 minutes spare...mix up some concrete and start making some industrial inspired home accessories...

It really is that easy!!

 

I filled the laundry tab box with the concrete mix , placed two play dough cups into the concrete...filled them with gravel to weigh them down, so they wouldn't float out of position.

 And left to dry and cure overnight...

Much like I did when making my concrete and cement planters this summer...

PS! It is helpful to remove the plastic cups before the concrete has fully set, but if you forget, just use a hair drier to heat up the plastic, making it pliable and easier to remove...

I ended up making 2 of these...

To make them match the concrete lampshade I made, I decorated with a strip of gold leaf..

 

The first one got a golden strip near the top.....

(See my previous post here for easy gold leafing instructions)

 

...And the second one got a golden strip in the middle...

 

Then I sprayed the inside of it with gold spray paint, before palm sanding the top to neaten and even out the concrete...

And, voila!! I'd created one concrete and gold tea light votive, and one succulent planter:

 

And they sit so lovely, side by side, on my little hallway shelf...

 

Easy..

Go on...have a go!

Concrete really is worth its weight in gold!!

xxx

June