Creating with Cement

Last weekend I had a little fun with cement and made some hearts and stars. When used for decor purposes, it's got such a great industrial vibe to it that I love! Plus it has amazing texture and who can resist that perfect shade of gray!?! The best part is almost anything can be turned into a mold which means the possibilities are endless for working with cement! 

Anyways, I put together a little tutorial for anyone interested in making some hearts with Valentine's day coming up!  

You will need: 

Quick setting cement. Make sure you get cement and not concrete. I found mine at Lowe's for around $7.00.

You will also need some kind of mold. I found the star silicone baking mold at Joann's and the hearts are actually an ice cube tray I found at a thrift store. I wasn't sure how the ice cube tray hearts would turn out since it's not flexible like the silicone, but I had no problems at all getting the hearts out once they dried. 

Before you fill your molds with cement use some kind of cooking oil (I used canola) to grease each of the stars and hearts. 

 To mix the cement you can follow the directions on the bucket, which in my case was 5 1/2 parts cement to 1 part water. That was just way too confusing for me, so I just mixed it by eyeballing. 

Use any old container, like a coffee can, and a plastic spoon. 

Scoop out your cement powder into your container and start to slowly add water. Stir just until it's all mixed and there are no lumps. 

I kept adding water until I got the consistency of slightly watered down peanut butter, if that makes sense. I found that if the cement was a bit more on the watery side it filled the molds better and they came out much smoother when dried. 

When you get the consistency you like, start filling your molds. 

Once your trays are filled make sure to tap them down to get the air bubbles out and help it all settle. I just lifted one end slightly and let it drop. 

Since the cement was a bit watery, I let them dry for about 12 hours in front of a heat register. Then just take them out of the molds. They should come out with very little effort. 

 Wouldn't some of these look so cute painted as well? 

If you have any other questions just let me know. I will be happy to help. 

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