Print PDF
Favorite
Email
For a quick, fun and very easy garden project, grab a bag of concrete, your imagination, and follow me!
Concrete planters and garden ornamentation are a wonderful addition to the outdoor setting around one's home. Often, such decor comes with a high price, enormous size and incredible weight which is not easily transported. The solution? Make your own.
While you would likely not fare well to dive right into large scale concrete landscaping, you can dabble a bit in a smaller project to begin with. Then, when you find how addicting this craft is, take it easy on me for suggesting it. So let's get started.
Curious about the intro bowl? See step five for details.
Found a typo? Please, by all means, let me know. :-) I appreciate it!
Is your reply positive and constructive? I'd love to hear it.
Please refrain from being nasty or negative. That is not the purpose of this site.
Remove these ads by
Signing UpStep 1Gather your materials...
What you will need:
CONCRETE - http://www.quikrete.com/index.asp
QUIKRETE® Concrete Mix (No. 1101) is the original 4000 psi average compressive strength blend of Portland cement, sand, and gravel or stone. Just add water. Use for any general concrete work. (Ver batum as posted on the Quikrete site) Resist the urge to use heavy duty concrete, as it is very chunky. For those familiar with mixing their own concrete instead of using a mix, by all means do so. We use Quikrete because it is available in our area and has proven to be of quality for the items I've made.
Though many home improvement stores carry ready-to-mix concrete in 80 pound bags, it is also available in other sizes, depending on your preference as well as ability to lug it around. Be sure to allow store employees to help load the larger bags into your car. There are many types of ready-to-mix available, choose accordingly. I prefer Quikrete (mainly because it is readily available in our area) and Quikrete Vinyl Concrete Patcher, but these products are mere suggestions. Nothing is cast in stone. Yet.
COLORING - Not a necessary item at all, though coloring concrete is quite fun, and easy! Check out liquid cement colors near the concrete section of your local hardware store. A 10 oz. bottle will color quite a bit of concrete. If you want to maintain color consistency in your projects, consider making up large bottles of colored water for your project, and be sure to keep a lid on the container of mixed water. Shake well before using. Don't get carried away by dumping in more colorant than recommended, or your concrete will not set properly.
MOLDS - An endless supply of molds, containers and other ideas are available everywhere. Scour yard sales, thrift stores and other thrifty places for interesting shapes and sizes. Don't stick to bowls, use your imagination. You could even make your own. Try not to choose anything with great detail, as you may be disappointed. For finer detail, use Vinyl Patch mix, which has far less bumps and bits of rock, or use a good cement and sand recipe.
Just about any container can be utilized as a mold for concrete, provided you are able to get the finished product out of it. Bowls, cups, milk cartons, jugs, the ideas are bountiful. At present, I've found much delight in selecting unique glass containers from second hand stores and yard sales. If the finished item cannot be dropped or dumped out of the mold, after the concrete has fully set up, simply (and gently) tap the glass to crack or break it from your concrete creation, then rinse off the glass and be sure to take it to the recycling center.
Plastic, stainless steel and other materials release from the cured concrete easily when non-stick spray is applied to the mold prior to adding concrete.
NON-STICK COOKING SPRAY - Yes, release agents are sold specifically for the purpose of mold release when using concrete, but quite frankly, a cheap can of non-stick cooking spray works just fine. Use it generously to ensure your project will slide out of the mold. I've used both generic and Pam brand cooking sprays with success. Thanks to the many wonderful Instructable folks who have also suggested using other agents such as WD40 and perhaps even motor oil.
WATER - Necessary to mix with the concrete. Not too hot, not too cold, not too much, not too little. Perhaps my 'luck' has been the love of making mud pies as a child. Think Goldilocks, and mix well.
RUBBER GLOVES - Nothing fancy needed, but you should wear them. Be safe, not sorry. Concrete poisoning is no fun, and it's not pretty. I know this from personal experience.
EMERGENCY MOLDS - So you've mixed a pristine batch of concrete, you've sprayed the mold and you're in the process of filling it. Whoops, not enough concrete! Quick, dump it out and reach for another mold. Keep one close by for this very reason, and don't forget to spray it first. It is better to make a bit more than to end up a bit short.
A POKER - You'll need something about the circumference of a pencil to poke out air bubbles.
A LARGE SPOON - Or any similar item to mix the concrete. My favorite? A skinny garden trowel. Keep your eyes off items in the utensil drawer of the kitchen unless you no longer wish to use it on food.
BUCKETS, MEASURING CUPS, MISCELLANEOUS 'TOOLS OF THE TRADE' - Obtain inexpensive tools and reserve them for concrete projects alone, as they will become tarnished with concrete. Don't be wasteful. Clean and re-use your tools.
| « Previous Step | Download PDFView All Steps | Next Step » |
-wrap a large inflatable ball with chicken wire- leaving an uncovered area as the opening at the top.
-pack on wet sand mix concrete all around the OUTSIDE- except where you designate the opening to be.
- When it is cured, the ball is deflated and removed-
You now have a hollow concrete ball that can be used as a planter, or a pond/fountain. I would suggest if you use it as a planter, to maybe fill it most of the way with packing peanuts or old plastic water bottles,then insert a plant pot, or a layer of weedcloth, covered by soil. You can also poke a drain hole in the side of the ball so it doesn't fill with water.
I just found an small, old cast iron coal stove that I'm putting in one of my flowers beds as a decoration piece. At first I was thinking of planting flowers in it, but now you got me (and the girlfriend) convinced that it would make a great base for a concrete bird bath!
Thanks!
Many thanks! A bird bath indeed! :-)
Can't wait for warmer weather - bird baths in mind, too!
1. Shouldn't the concrete be treated to prevent the chemicals from leaching out into the water? If so how do you do this...
2. Also is there away to prevent the items from cracking while outside during the colder season..if unable to bring in?
Thanks!!
I make concrete statues as well and when I cast spheres in order to save concrete I tend to make them hollow.
I do this a few different ways depending on what I have laying around. Sometimes I use a large balloon and fill it full of water or sand and then I cover it with something like a thick piece of plastic to keep the concrete aggregate from poking holes in the balloon. I fill the sphere 1/4 full and then put in the balloon and pack the concrete around it with the end poking out of the top. Then after it cures I open the balloon end and empty the sand or water out.
Another way I did this was to take a styrofoam sphere that you can get at any craft store and just permanently embed that in the middle.
I love the pieces made from the bubble bowls, those would look amazing clustered in a Japanese style garden.
Great job!
Many thanks for your compliments and mention of your ideas as well.
Funny you should mention such a fun project as your spheres, as
just this past weekend I bought a few blow-up punch balls and intend
to make precisely what you mentioned. If time provides. :-)
By chance, do you have a tutorial for your spheres?
Many thanks!
Karen
One thing you may want to try, I have always done this once and it was a very cool effect. After I put the balloon in the center full of sand and then I took thin candlesticks, like the kind you have on a dinner table, about an inch diameter. I wedge them either randomly or in a pattern between the form and the balloon and then pack concrete in around them. After the sphere is cured and you take out the center, then you burn the candles out! and you get perfect holes and you can put a light source underneath - they look really very cool. :)
"Intend". Ha ha, indeed! My problem as well.
I apologize for being so lame and not having an instructable, I have three jobs currently. :) I will try and put my money where my mouth is soon.
I want to make some yard stuff ... stepping stones, planters, etc., and have been reading up on making my own paper crete. I like the sound of the Spec Mix for its "finer" and smoother nautre, for things like planters. Would also like to use it for stepping stones.
Would it be acceptable for use in making paper crete?
Thanks for the link to the video!!
thanks for this. Keep the good work
Thank you so much! I had a blast creating all of these, and am
anxious for Spring to return so I can have more fun.
It is a chemical reaction so the right proprtion of water to cement is important. You don't want this water needed for the chemical reaction to evaporate, so it is good to keep the surface moist (or at least not dried out). Cement is not an environmentally friendly material so substituting portions if a different material is a good idea. You can experiment with sand, soil small rocks, ground glass, etc.
Thanks for posting...this is a great project and your bowl is beautiful.
Next...experiment with this stuff to make a custom kitchen counter!
The perlite I suggested is commonly used in cement for the purpose of lightening without sacrificing too much in the strength department.