DIY Concrete Vases

Learn how easy it is to make simple DIY concrete vases with cement and ordinary materials you may already have around the house.

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These concrete vases are fun to make and cost very little. Besides the concrete, (actually cement), you need to search the house or store for containers to use as molds.

Outer Containers: Those that can be torn away such as paper coated milk cartons. In this case, I bought some Pringles from the dollar store. The inside has a nice slick surface which is what you want to look for and I knew that these would be easy to cut away to release the final product.

Inner Containers: You'll also need to find something to fit inside your container. It also helps if they are plastic and/or have a slick surface. I ended up trying three different sizes to make three different vases. A small can of juice, a hydration tablet container, and a small plastic bottle of coconut oil.

And if you like you can add some natural pigment powder for color but that's optional.

 

How to Make Concrete Vases

Step 1. Mix cement and water in a plastic bowl until it has a pudding-like consistency. You can make it a little thicker which will help with drying time but might be harder to pour.

Step 2. Pigments(Optional) If you'd like you can pour some of the cement mixture into a separate container and add some natural pigment powder for color. I had plenty left from my Paint Pigment Pot Project so I tried a little green and then blue pigment. The pigments I used were purchased from Earth Pigments, but you can also buy Mica Powders that are similar online.

Step 3. Start by pouring some of the concrete mix into the bottom of the outer container.

Step 4. Rub a little bit of or spray oil over the inner container and then place it inside the larger container. You may want to fill it with water to give it some weight.

Step 5. Then pour the cement around the inner container. Use tape or something heavy like a rock, to keep the inner container in place.

Step 6. Tap the container lightly on the table to remove any air bubbles.

Step 7. After 48 hours the concrete should be pretty dry. You can remove the weights or tape and cut or tear away the outer container.

Step 8. Then gently twist out the inner container.

For some reason the coconut bottle would not come out for me, so I used an exacto knife to cut away the top and left it inside.

Step 9. The cement should still be a little soft at this point allowing you to sand and carve out any rough spots.

Depending on the humidity the concrete may be too soft and you may end up breaking it like the one above. If it seems like it's still pretty wet you are better off waiting another day. Also, I wonder if the walls were a little too thin on this vase.

Overall I'm pretty happy with the way they turned out.

I really love the way the pigment looks on these concrete vases. I also left the seam from the chip can as a graphic element. However, it would be fine to sand or carve away all the ridges if you want the end result smoother.

As with many projects, the biggest issue (outside of the mess) was being patient. Something I'm always working on.