Making Concrete Pots, Bowls, and Planters
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About this ebook
Follow Hester van Overbeek's simple tutorials to make a huge range of unique concrete projects. In Gardening & Outdoors you will find projects to add that extra spark to your garden, such as the Chevron planter and Hanging basket, or the Vertical garden and Recycled planters. To impress your guests, head to Food & Entertaining where you will find centrepieces such as the Fire bowl and Fruit bowl, or the Cake stand and Canopy with lights. Finally, there is Display & Gift, where you can find projects to delight your friends and loved ones such as the Two-tone decorative bowl or Wood and concrete bowl, along with the Patterned vase and Storage jar. In a simple and comprehensive techniques section you will find everything you need to know – what type of concrete to buy, how to use it and how to decorate it. With these projects and many more, you will be able to add that extra splash of flair to all corners of your home. First Published in 2017, this is a new edition.
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Making Concrete Pots, Bowls, and Planters - Hester van Overbeek
making CONCRETE POTS, BOWLS, and PLANTERS
making CONCRETE POTS, BOWLS, and PLANTERS
33 stylish and simple home and garden projects
HESTER VAN OVERBEEK
DEDICATION
For my super creative family: my aunts, uncles, and cousins, who always have some DIY advice and tips handy.
This edition published in 2022 by CICO Books
An imprint of Ryland Peters & Small Ltd
20–21 Jockey’s Fields
London WC1R 4BW
341 E 116th St
New York, NY 10029
www.rylandpeters.com
First published in 2017 as Making Concrete Pots, Bowls, and Platters
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Text © Hester van Overbeek 2017
Design and photography © CICO Books 2017
The author’s moral rights have been asserted. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.
A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress and the British Library.
ISBN: 978 1 80065 112 8
eISBN: 978 1 80065 148 7
Printed in China
Editor: Gillian Haslam
Designer: Elizabeth Healey
Photographer: James Gardiner
Stylist and step photographer: Hester van Overbeek
In-house editor: Anna Galkina
Production manager: Gordana Simakovic
Publishing manager: Penny Craig
Art director: Sally Powell
Publisher: Cindy Richards
CONTENTS
Introduction
Getting started
CHAPTER 1
GARDENING & OUTDOORS
Chevron planter
Hanging basket
Asymmetric succulent planter
Upside-down planter
Vertical garden
Recycled planters
Birdhouse
Copper planter with saucer
Plant table
Animal planter
Water feature
CHAPTER 2
FOOD & ENTERTAINING
Coasters
Serving dish
Chargers
Dowel bread basket
Candlesticks
Fruit bowl
Fire bowl
Cup and saucer
Canopy with lights
Cake stand
Tea light holders
Kitchen trivet
CHAPTER 3
DISPLAY & GIFT
Two-tone decorative bowl
Wood and concrete bowl
Doily bowls
Geometric vase
Display triangle
Bookend
Patterned vase
Phone charging station
Concrete photo art
Storage jar
Resources
Index
Acknowledgments
INTRODUCTION
I love textures—old wood, chipped paint, marble, and concrete are all things I like to work with, so when the opportunity to create this book came along, it got my interest right away.
Concrete is such a lovely medium to work with, but it can have a very industrial image and even my dad said Are you sure—a whole book of concrete? Isn’t that way too difficult for you?
To be fair, you do need to get to grips with a few basic techniques, but mixing and casting concrete is not difficult for the average crafter to master. If you are a novice, I suggest starting with the small projects first—the asymmetric succulent planter on page 28 and the tea light holders on page 90 are very good introductions to concrete crafts. Once you become more confident in creating the perfect concrete mixture, you can start mixing bigger quantities and try the chevron planter on page 20 or the plant table on page 49.
I use a variety of molds for the projects in this book. I’ve built my own wooden ones, used my silicon baking pans, raided the recycling bin for juice cartons and yogurt pots, and even tried some free casting on sand. Concrete will take any shape you pour it in and will even pick up all the texture inside your molds, so you can get very creative. Most concrete crafts have a strong industrial look, so I also wanted to create some more delicate and unusual pieces, like my doily bowls on page 102, the cake stand on page 88, and the patterned vase on page 114.
Learning how to work with concrete was new to me and I had some disasters along the way— bowls stuck in their molds and mixtures that took forever to set—while running out of concrete mid mega pour and having to dash to the DIY store on a super busy Saturday wasn’t one of my highlights! But practice paid off and by tweaking my designs and working out which molds work best, I had a lot of fun and I’m pleased to share my tips and ideas with you here.
I’m not the most patient crafter, and also have a relaxed approach when it comes to making things, but as curing concrete is a chemical process you do have to be quite precise and learn to play the waiting game as you won’t know if your cast has worked until a day or so after you made it. However, I had so much fun coming up with some unique projects for you to make and I hope you will become a concrete convert too!
GETTING STARTED
CHOOSING YOUR CONCRETE
Concrete is a super strong building material, but it is also great for crafts. It is a mix of cement and aggregates, to which you add water to create the exothermic chemical reaction which makes concrete set rock hard.
People seem to mix up the words cement and concrete. To clear it up, cement is the glue
that holds concrete together. You mix cement with aggregates—such as sharp sand (also called builder’s sand), ballast, small rocks, gravel, etc— to make concrete. To make life easy, you can buy packets of premixed concrete, in quick or normal set. Or you can mix your own by combining cement with sand and ballast. On average you mix one part cement with four parts sand/ballast/ aggregates, but always follow the instructions on your cement packaging.
I tend to use premixed concrete as it’s relatively hassle-free and you only have to add water, but mixing your own is handy if you want a lighter colored concrete. Most premixed concrete is a gray color, but by using white Portland cement (crushed and finely ground limestone) and colored pigments you can create a lot of different toned projects (see page 74).
Quick-set concrete is also available in premixed packets. This mix will set within an hour—great if you want to make something quickly. Quick-set concrete is perfect for small projects, but I wouldn’t recommend it for the large planters as you will not have enough time to mix all the concrete and pour it before the first lot hardens.
Concrete comes in different textures. There are the very smooth and fine ones and the coarser mixes. The coarse ones are cheaper to buy and contain larger pieces of rubble or stones—this concrete is used by builders to make walls, etc. Smoother concrete mixes have finer milled ballast, resulting in a very smooth finish which is great for delicate projects. All brands are different and it’s best to try several to see which finish you prefer.
SAFETY FIRST
Always wear rubber gloves when you work with concrete as the mixture will make your hands super dry. You may even get skin irritations or chemical burns, so wash off any concrete that gets on your skin.
Protect your eyes from concrete dust by wearing safety goggles. It’s unlikely that powder will get in your eyes when weighing and mixing the concrete, but it could splash up when you pour it into the mold or you might rub it onto your face. Better safe than sorry.
Wear a dust mask when weighing and mixing concrete powder. You don’t want to breathe this in as it can irritate your throat and lungs. I use small, disposable dust masks with elastic around the neck and a metal clasp you tighten around your nose.