First of all, to say I’m obsessed (and I do mean completely consumed by) with HGTV is an understatement. I’m talking everything from their amazing magazine to their Tiny House Nation
Lately I’ve been crushing (majorly crushing) big time on super cool and snazzy concrete/cement DIY projects. I personally love to add cute things in my house to jazz it up. The pictures I’ve seen all over Pinterest always look so chic and fun to make, but always think are they even remotely realistic? These past few weeks I decided to question the theory behind these adorable DIY's by recreating three (various skill-leveled) projects. So, I decided to kick off this season the right way: Down to DIY!
Planting seeds isn’t just for springtime. In fact, a lot of seed planting is perfect for autumn. Every year I anticipate planting seasonal herbs, flowers, and vegetables in a variety of different pots throughout my garden all before the cooling season. I always tell my boyfriend that I love gardening and recycling almost more than I love him. Key word here: almost. So, when I was planting the other day, I decided to reuse a few items that I was originally going to recycle: a jar of olives, a Snapple glass, and two plastic fruit containers. The plastic containers worked perfectly for molding, and the cement (I like to use "RapidSet CEMENT ALL") worked like a charm. I added water to the cement mix, poured them into my molds, and added the glass jars to create the orifice for my soil, and then I planted! I left it to dry for 24 hours and came back to amazingly smooth and beautiful cement.
When you pull each bottle out and remove the outer plastic molding the result is so beautiful. For a more minimalist approach, you can paint fully or leave it unadorned. Either way both will make for a pretty finish that you can admire during your morning coffee/book reading routine.
Project number two was a little trickier because you actually have to be somewhat of a decent drawer, and be able to safely wield a blade without completely killing yourself. I recently realized that my shelf had a lonely little space on it, looking pretty empty. I’m trying to balance this whole act of minimalism, but I REALLY love stuff. It's a win-lose relationship of sorts. I instantly wanted to create a cute shelf piece, so I figured making a set of tiny houses was the way to go! The only thing I really needed was cement mix, a cutting tool, some cardboard, and a pencil and tape. It sounds deceivingly easy.
First, draw a simple house shape on a piece of spare cardboard with about a one inch line overdrawn on each corner. Keep in mind you’ll need to form borders around the base of the house mold. Next take your x-acto blade, cut out the shape of the house leaving about a one inch border around the whole frame, and then score the inner outline of the house. Be sure not to cut through the entire thickness of the cardboard. After that tape the sides up, add the concrete mix with some water, and let it dry again for about 20-24 hours. Once dry, peel back the cardboard to reveal thin, but cute shelf houses. I was feeling pretty good about this DIY so I added some paint to jazz it up. The worst part of this was the cutting and drawing. Definitely not my forte to say the least.
The final DIY cement project I attempted was a cute tiny stool. All you'll need is three dowels, accompanied with the bucket of cement mix, a can of white glossy paint, a mixing stick, and a bowl of water for the cement mixture and you can make this project completely doable. After I was satisfied with the mixture (complete breeze even though I’ve only been guessing on the water to concrete mixture ratio), I stuck the dowels into the bucket, leaning them on the bucket sides, and let it sit for 18 hours. After it dried, I slapped on a thick coat of mixed blue and white paint (tape = godsend) onto the ends of each dowel. The end result is pretty neat and I was super overjoyed that my creation managed to somehow survive. I ended up putting a strip of white paint directly onto the concrete top to add a bit of pizzaz, and to also keep a neutral color in my bedroom. After adding a few "Ugly Dolls" and hanging up two picture frames of my cat I couldn’t really hide my excitement/fatigue. The end result is a small stand, but it makes my room so cozy. I further decorated with a miniature "William Sonoma" mug, a tiny candle, and small moleskin notebook. WI can’t wait to do more concrete DIY projects!
All three of these DIYs are completely doable, eco-friendly and cost efficient. Plus, they’re a lot of fun. The stool was by far the hardest DIY, but it was definitely my favorite one. Each one of these DIY's adds volume to my apartment, and are a definite hit with friends and family. My verdict? Start your DIYs today! You won’t regret these beauties.
