DIY Concrete Planter
We made this DIY concrete planter with cardboard forms and packing tape. No fancy equipment and super inexpensive! It looks pretty in our farmhouse laundry room as an herb planter.
Servings 1 planter
Cost 5
Equipment
Ingredients
- Concrete powder
- Packing tape
- Utility knife
- Mini bar clamp
Instructions
- Make the molds by folding cardboard into the size you want, and securing with packaging tape. We made our large mold 13″ long by 6″ wide by 4″ tall and our small mold 11″ long by 4″ wide by 3″ tall. This gave the concrete a thickness of 1″ all the way around.
- Mix concrete powder with water until it reaches the consistency a little thicker than pancake batter. We actually had quite a bit of Quickcrete leftover from the concrete bowl we made a few weeks ago, so thats what we used. Since that kind has pretty large rocks in it, we used a large plastic strainer to get sift off most of that. I wanted the finished planter to have a smooth finish.
- Cover the outside of the small mold, and the inside of the large mold, with packing tape. This gives it a nonstick surface. We weren’t sure how necessary this step was, but when we went to unmold the planter the areas that hadn’t been covered with tape did stick to the cardboard quite a bit. So, this is definitely a necessary step!
- Fill the large mold about 3/4 of the way full.
- Press the small mold into the large mold.
- Add a weight to the small mold, to hold it down during the drying process.
- Top off the concrete, so that the top of it is level with the top of the molds.
- Use 2 clamps on opposite sides of the molds to hold them together. This prevents the cardboard from bowing.
- Allow the concrete to sit undisturbed for about 24 hours.
- Cut the cardboard molds away with a utility knife.
Video
Notes
- Once you have this technique down, you can make any size and shape!