DIY: Make a Cement Planter & Engrave a Personalized Message

1. Class Intro: Aren't cement planters cool? I love them. And I will teach you how to make the planter from scratch and personalize it like these ones. In this class, you will learn to engrave the text and design in your cement planters. With a few easy steps, you will make your unique planter to decorate your home or to give as a gift to a friend. My name is Carmina Soler. I love crafts. And I will teach you how to make them. Are you ready to have fun in this class? Then hit enroll and let's get started! 2. Gather the materials: For the first step, which is to create the mold. We would use a cardboard box, a cutting mat, a ruler, Scissors, a cutter, a pencil, and duct tape. For the second step, which is to create the decoration of the planter we would use a foam sheet, letters made of foam sheets, glue, scissors, a cutter, and a pencil. For the third step, we will need the cement, Spooner, stick to mix it, a little bit of oil and a brush, some coins and you might want to use gloves. You will also need sandpaper to soften the corners of the planter, paper towels, to clean any excess cement and a plastic cup. You will need a container to mix the cement, in something that you can throw away afterward. and a pot for water. For the fourth step, we just need acrylic paints, brush, something to put the paint on, and a paper towel. Finally, of course, the plants. 3. Create the planter shape with cardboard: Check that the plant fits in the plastic glass well, then check whether the glass fits inside the box you have, If the box is too big just cut the box into pieces and we make it smaller, otherwise, just cut the part that you don't need like me. The size of the mold it's totally up to you but I recommend to make it proportionally to the plant you have for instance, this mold would be too big for the cactus I have on the table. As you can see, the mold is too high so I will cut it shorter. Make sure though, that the mold is a little bit higher than the base of the plant, since you need to have about half an inch of the cement base. 4. Prepare the design: I have made a quick sketch having in mind the size and shape of the planter and also the size of the letters that I have. I will start putting together the text on the letter's plastic bag. So it's easier to move the letters around. Once I'm happy with the setup of the letters, I have checked that they fit well on the mold, I will continue drawing the other elements. Now that I've got everything, I would check how I will place it. Now we will work on the planter design. I'm happy with the design. So I will start taping the inner walls of the mold. Make sure you do this step. it will help to take off the mold and you will be able to reuse it over and over. If you don't tape it, the mold will break once you take it off and it might leave some cardboard attached to the cement. which is not always easy to remove. Once the mold is ready, measure with a ruler the center of the side of the mold where you will place the letters, make some marks so it is easier to place them straight. Now very important. Make sure you paste the letters in inverted, keep in mind that you will want to read them once transferred to the cement, since these letters are sticky from the "wrong" side. According to our needs, I will play with them a little bit to get rid of their glue before placing them on the other side with the elements. I won't have this problem because the orange foam is not sticky. When you have pasted everything, you can finish the mold. Make sure to put that tape through all the sides to make sure it's tied and free of leaks. As you can see, I added some extra elements to the sides. Here you can see a reused mold with another design, and here a plastic pot with a design inside when it's transparent, it's easy to understand how to place the letters. 5. Work with the cement: so we have our mold design ready, and now we'll work with the cement. First of all, "paint" with oil or spray the letters to make sure they won't get stacked with the cement. Do the same with the outside part of the plastic cup. I don't recommend using glass because it can be tricky to remove it from the cement, afterward. Use plastic, tetra brik or create a mold with cardboard and tape. When you mix the cement, you want to make sure that the mix is more fluid than solid. We need to make sure that the cement will go through the letters and the small holds they have such as the letters "e" or "a". So if it's too thick it won't work for the letters. Put the plastic cup in the middle and press a little bit. Put the coins inside, otherwise, it will float. Make sure it doesn't go all the way to the floor. We need at least half an inch of cement between the floor of the mold and the plastic cup. With this one, I was short of cement, so I had to mix more right away before it would dry. Don't spend too much time mixing because it will start drying at some point and you won't be able to use it. It has to be a quick process. I suggest having a little container and plastic cup ready, Just in case you have extra cement. For instance, you can make a candle holder like this one. Clean the extra cement before it dries. Now, leave it as it is because in minutes it will start getting hot. Wait at least thirty minutes before trying to take off the mold or until you feel that it's cooling down. Here you can see the plastic mold with the cement. As you can see the cement has gone through the letters and within the holds, which is what we want. 6. Time to reveal: Now it's time to remove the mold. Cut the corners like these to be able to reuse the mold. Time to reveal the design. Because we used foam it is easy to remove and reuse it later on. Before we move on use some sandpaper to clean the edges and soften them. 7. Add some colours: It's time to paint the inside of the letters. Use a small brush and acrylic paint. If some paint goes outside of the letter, you can erase it quickly with your finger. 8. Ready to make your own planter?: So here we have our planter ready. We just need to plant our succulents in it, and voilà! I hope you have enjoyed the class and that you are excited to try to make your own personalized planter. If you do so, make sure you post some photos of both the process and the final result in the project gallery. Please, let me know if you have any questions, I'll be happy to help you.