Today’s post is our next  Int’l Bloggers Club challenge and the theme this week is “Cast in Concrete”.   We have to create a project using concrete in any way, shape or form. I chose to make Zen styled garden decor. I have never used concrete before so I did not have high hopes for the outcome.  More about IBC at the end of this post.

I had this idea in my head that I wanted Zen styled garden decor. Thanks to my new puppies, I have no flowers left in my garden.  They have taken it upon themselves to dig them all up for me. (They knew they were not helping) lol. I wanted it to be a small colourful structure that I could put in my garden to add some colour. The idea was to add a silver ball to the middle as a feature that would reflect light.

I could see what I wanted in my head, I just had no idea how to do it.  So repurposing items I found around my home I did manage to reproduce what I envisioned.   My first mistake was thinking concrete and cement was the same thing. So, my project is only half correct because cement is only half the ingredients of concrete. But never mind.  I watched a couple of YouTube videos on how to use cement and then jumped right in.

DIY Cement Garden Decor

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Find items to use as moulds

I used this metal circle as a mould.  It was the extension from my glass bowl convection oven.  I have not used it in 10 years, so I have no issue using it in this project.  Before I poured the cement, I cut the mould in half so I will be able to remove the casting later. The metal circle was taped back together before adding the cement.

My first idea was to create some “cracks” in the cement which I was going to fill later with gold leaf.  But this idea totally bombed.  The vinyl was not thick enough to cause deep enough cracks.  So don’t pay too much attention to the cracks in the image below.

I used a thick sheet of plastic to go under the mould and sealed the base with some hot glue. I added a plastic lid from one of my adhesive cans for the centre. These are very advanced materials I used in this project. lol

Adding your cement

You can use a plastic bowl and add some of the cement into the bowl.  Make a pond in the middle and start adding small amounts of water while stirring, you need a nice smooth consistency.

Pour the cement into the mould and leave it to dry, I left mine a couple of days just to be sure.

You can remove the tape and slide the cement out of the mould. To remove the plastic in the middle I used a sharp knife and cut it out.

I removed the vinyl which did nothing that I hoped it would.  There were some creases on the surface because I moved my project before the cement was set.

I sanded the surface to smooth out the rough edges where the glue and mould were removed.

Add the stainless steel ball

I bought this 80 mm mirror metal stainless steel hollow ball to go in the middle.  I used a long drill bit to drill a hole into the cement and ball for the treaded pole to go through.

Try and drill the holes between the top and the bottom straight.  Mine was not, so my ball is slightly off centre. You can push the threaded rod through the hole and add a nut at the top and the bottom of the ball to hold it in place. This is where I realised I had no idea how I was going to stand the structure up.

Making the stand

I decided to try and use this plastic chocolate container as the base.  I sealed the lid on using hot glue to prevent any leakage.

Next, I placed the cement circle over the centre and marked out the size.  You can then cut a hole using a craft knife.

Next, you can mix another batch of cement and fill the base like the image below.  Don’t fill it too high or it will just make a mess once the top is added. To make sure the base is full, you can pick it up a few centimetres and drop it back down a few times.  The pressure of the drop will push the cement into the base. This will also release the bubbles in the cement.

Next, I pushed the top into the base and smooth over the surface where the two join together. I left mine for another day or two just to make sure it was completely dry.

Once dry, you can cut away the plastic container.

My next drama was that I did not take into account what the inside of the plastic container looked like.  It had all these ridges and grooves which I did not like.  I mixed another small batch of cement and painted it over the surface with a paintbrush.  This covered the holes and the mess on the join.

Painting the cement

I was not too thrilled with the final colour, so I painted it. I had some leftover white masonry paint but that looked to plain.  So, I added some blue Mica powder and colour pigment to the paint and got this colour.  I love the final outcome of my Zen styled garden decor, and I will most definitely be having another go using cement in another project.

More project ideas for your garden

This tiered planter was made from an old pallet.

This wooden suncatcher was my first attempt at using resin.

More about IBC

If you follow my blog, you will know I am part of IBC (International Bloggers Club) which is a group of talented bloggers from around the world. We have members from Spain, South Africa, Australia, the United States, and Canada. Each month we come together and create a project with a common theme.

If you missed last month’s “Resin Challenge” theme here is the link to my wooden suncatcher.  The contributions from my fellow bloggers for this month’s challenge are listed below, please feel free to jump over and give them some love.

Projects

1. Meegan Makes| How to make a cement block garden planter
2. A Crafty Mix|DIY Rustic Avocado sailboat
3. Raggedy bits |Vintage Farmhouse Faux Concrete Eggs
4. Birdz of a feather | How to make a cement planter
5. ME
6. Interior Frugalista|Funique DIY Concrete Succulent Planter

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