DIY: Cement Planters

A couple of years ago, I saw this DIY for cement planters in my Better Homes and Gardens mag and tore it out.  I thought...Someday....Someday I will try this!   I love the clean simple shapes.  The texture of the cement is rustic yet modern too. 

Well not too long ago, Jenny from Little Green Notebook wrote about the same DIY, so I was really inspired all over again.  When I was in Ohio for the big garage sale weekend a couple weeks ago, I made plans to try this with Treffry.  

I picked a few of my mom's [5 million] pieces of tupperware, a half gallon milk carton and a metal flan pan picked up at a yard sale for .50. 

We followed the directions for mixing up the concrete.  4 parts vermiculite to one part cement.  The vermiculite is added to ensure the pots aren't too heavy.  If you are doing bigger planters, that will be really important. 

 One step, not to be forgotten is to spray all the plastic [touching the cement] with cooking spray.  This allows the cement to pull out easily (and it really works!)

Fill the molds with the concrete mix then push in a smaller object to create the planting hole.  I used plastic cups.  I knew I wanted to fill them with succulents, so I didn't need a big/deep planting space.

Leave them to set.

 I let them sit for a few days just to make sure they didn't crack when I tried to pull off the plastic.
They came out perfectly and look so cool planted with succulents!!

What an easy project. I think this is something I will try again.  I would like to make a few bigger sized planters and fill them with a rounded boxwoods.