day one of cement planters experiment

17 comments

Well today I played with a few ideas i have been brewing in my head over the last few weeks.

My nephew Sion was amazing and helped me round up all the necessaries and then there was no stopping me.

Then i made my first mistake when choosing material to use in the mix. The colourful bit is a rug i made from crocheting shredded old fleece jumpers which was covered in paint. The problem being its nylon and non absorbent but by the time I had figured that out it was in the mixer covered in cement so I used it anyway…

as you can see its a bit patchy in places.

I put more mix on the top which “IF” it works will be the bottom and this maybe will add strength. I wont move it till friday to give it chance to set.

Then I used cotton dust sheets cut into about 4 foot squares this was much more absorbent and that was when i realised the problem with the first one.

Got a bit more adventurous with a piece of sturdy plastic diamond fence and this time I wrapped the whole thing in what looked like cement bandage..no pics of this as I was covered in cement…lol and somehow it ended up looking like this.

This one din’t do what I wanted it to do…but time will tell.

I had such fun finding things to use now all I have to do is not touch them till their dry!!

Finally I found a broken drum and thought why not! This time I used and old duvet cover in the mix. I like the way the thinner material made more groves and folds as i went. Each one is several layers thick so i am hoping they will be strong enough. I made indents for drainage holes but will have to drill through on some of them.

Can’t wait till Friday as I made 7 using different materials and methods there will be lessons to learn for the next session.. but I am sure some will work.

Thanks for reading..:-)

3 Feb, 2015
9 likes

Comments

Lincslass

Good one Sandra, you must have enjoyed yourself doing them,I like the concertina one it will look really good with plants growing in it, I hope they do set well for you...

3 Feb, 2015

Hywel

They're brilliant Sandra. In a pottery class I once went to, we used net curtains to soak in liquid clay, and then did the same kind of thing as you've done with these :o)
I've got lots of materials I'm going to use like that when I get my pottery shed up and running again this summer (I hope I can get round to it ...)

3 Feb, 2015

Sandra

Thanks it was such fun.. hope you find time to go potty HYwel...

4 Feb, 2015

Pamg

I rather like the spiral......have you thought of adding colour to the cement, I just googled it and there's lots of info for adding dry powder to the mix or colouring after when still wet.......

4 Feb, 2015

Sandra

i read up about that last night Pam...maybe next time...this was just the first attempt...i have loads more ideas now i have had a go...

4 Feb, 2015

Rogi

I like the spiral one. As I´m only a few weeks away from being an OAP I have now got some ideas as what to do with my well earned spare time...and realy looking forward to it.

4 Feb, 2015

Sandra

thanks Rogi happy retirement....look forward to your pics...:-)

4 Feb, 2015

Linda235

Looking forward to seeing them planted up Sandra.

4 Feb, 2015

Sandra

me too Linda. I gave them a little poke today...some are doing better than others. But i didn't poke too much as they are no where near dry..:-)

4 Feb, 2015

Driad

You have been busy , Sandra .
It's a bit like cooking , trial and error until you get it right , by the look of it .

5 Feb, 2015

Sandra

absolutely Driad...I have moved them all today and managed to remove the buckets except the one with the rug...I can see already how to do better the next time..:-)

5 Feb, 2015