Big Reveal: The Finished DIY Cement Planters
Revealing the Result of Cement Planter Project
So awhile back, in this post, we plotted a plan for DIY Cement Planters.
It was to be a middle school art project, the students making Christmas gifts for their parents.
In this post I’ll give you a report on what went down the way we planned it, and what went wrong.
Yes, there’s always that one part of every project that makes you wince later.
But I’m happy to report, that wincing aside, the projects were a slam dunk 100% grade A+. Hey, I’m the instructor in this deal, and that’s how I judged it. You recipients can comment if you don’t agree.
So let’s recap the ingredients for the cement planters.
- Forms for the cement. We used Dollar Store plastic bowls in two sizes.
- Vegetable oil. We oiled the inside of the large bowl and the outside of the small bowl.
- Fast dry concrete mix.
- Water, rubber gloves, paint stir sticks, ice cream bucket for mixing.
- Paint. Silver, gold, turquoise, fuchsia. I know. These are middle school girls. Brushes. Garbage bags for clothing savers. Garbage bags taped over every surface for protection from paint spills. Ask how I know.
- Glitter. Shiny stuff. Sparkles. Glitter. Not in my plan, but somehow, with girls, glitter and sparkles somehow always appear.
- Succulents. Home Depot has about a mile of choices. Did I mention succulents are popular now?
Mixing the Cement
Wait a minute.
Did I have instructions for mixing that included water displacement to measure how much cement mix to use?
Yes, as a matter of fact, there is math to this equation. But, despite this being a perfectly good school class, all addition and multiplication was far too complicated.
It was pour cement mix, add water, stir with gloved hands, add mix, add water… “Okay, that looks like my dad’s cement. What’s next?”
So as I, the instructor, stood there with my math and measuring cup, planters were being made before I could even come up with a formula.
Okay.
On to the next step.
Weighting the Small Bowl-Form
The small bowl that forms the hollow for plants needs weight to keep it down in the wet cement.
As we were outside, where desks and floors are safely indoors away from plopping concrete, I told them to go find some rocks. Some tried boulders. Some tried pebbles. About
4 same-sized small rocks worked best. This made evenly dispersed weight, therefore, a balanced hole-making bowl-form. Too much weight and the form sinks too deep, causing concrete spill into the planter hole. (See later.)
I know I planned to make drainage holes with dowels in the bottom of the planters, but, people… these girls were just too fast for me! Drainage holes didn’t happen.
The girls patted and smoothed their concrete like little sculptors. When most of the water was absorbed/evaporated, we hid the planters in a cupboard to dry for a week.
Painting the Cement Planters
The outside bowl forms came off the hardened cement like butter. The small inner bowl-forms didn’t. They had to be splintered out. Mine stayed in, due to concrete spill and weighting rocks cemented in. Which mistake actually became something artistic looking, and suggested possible future projects.
This was Painting Day.
The girls watched me mask off a chevron on each side of my planter, which I painted silver.
“You can paint yours in the design of your choice.”
They started masking designs and painted them. Looked at them. Added more paint. Looked at them. “Do you have more colors?”
I foolishly thought silver and gold, being festive colors, would add a little glitz, yet allow the the bare beauty of the cement to stand out. Which in my mind was the purpose of making cement planters.
More paints were found, and when my time was up that day, they were still painting. And glittering.
(When I returned for the next class, every planter was covered in bright colors and glitter and they were beautiful!)
Planting the Succulents
This was kindergarten stuff for my girls.
They popped out their plant choices and tucked them in as pretty and quick as can be.
Again, into the cupboard they went, so no wandering/wondering parents would happen to see their gift ahead of time.
I told them to have the door open all the time that parents weren’t expected, and to give the succulents a little water once a week.
The next lesson was 3 weeks later, the day before the exciting gift giving.
And this is the part that makes me wince.
When I came the day before gift giving would happen, with pretty wrapping paper and bows, several of the planters had some dying plants. Luckily my plants were okay, so I donated my plants to the sick and forlorn.
I assumed the problem could be one of three things,
- Too much water
- Not enough light, or, saddest of all,
- Lime leaching from the fast drying cement.
Considering that mine was the only one with the plastic form still inside, number three was my biggest concern. But researching that problem, I discovered that the small amount of lime that would leach into the soil would likely not cause problems. Lime raises the alkalinity of the soil. The succulents are planted in soil with a high level of mulch and peat, so the trace amounts of lime will probably not be the culprit. If you suspect the soil is affected, add a little vinegar when you water to add acidity.
Succulents do need a lot of light. Not high heats or blasts of sunshine, but nice, bright light. That was definitely missing in their diet for about 3 weeks.
Next time, we wait for the planting session until just before the gift wrapping session. Another benefit to waiting is that the planters get to cure a little longer, which will lessen the lime leaching. Rinsing the planters daily during the curing time would also help wash away the lime.
The Wrap Up on Cement Planters
The girls were excited about their gifts, and with reason.
They all turned out unique and beautiful and festive.
The ways they chose to wrap them were also unique and festive and beautiful.
So, to wrap up this project, I rate it a doable middle school class project. If you want to try it, feel free to contact us with any questions.
Happy Crafting!
Thank You for visiting.
Until next time,
Love, Kim & Dorothy
