Concrete Planters

Karen Holsopple
by Karen Holsopple
5 Materials
I wanted something different for my Hens and chicks. Something that would get them 'off the ground' and show them off. I had bought a bucket of quikrete and decided to try that. There were two bags of the powder to mix up, I only mixed up one. I didn't follow the directions, use a 1/4 cup, I just added water until I thought it was wet enough for it to stick to the towel but not too wet that it would drip off the towel. I made it about the consistency of oatmeal, not too runny, not too dry!
The small planter
The big planter
The quick setting quikrete


I found an old towel and cut it to the size I wanted. I had purchased two lampshades, different sizes, one big and one small. I sprayed them really good with cooking spray. I wet the towels (my son suggested this and I'm glad I listened) really good so that they wouldn't soak up the water from the quikrete mix. I squeezed some of the water out (not too much or it will indeed soak up the little bit of water from the quikrete), and took one of the towels and dunked it in. Make sure the towel is completely coated, I wore gloves and worked the towel into the quickrete to make sure it was completely covered. I took the towel and laid it over the lampshade. The corners were touching the ground, so I laid them out the way I wanted them to dry, and worked little creases around the lampshade to take up the extra space.
This is the big lampshade I used (I'm sorry, I didn't take pics of the towels on the lampshades :-(
The small lampshade


I left them to dry for 3 days (it had rained off and on all three days and I wanted to make sure they were completely dry.) I flipped the lampshades over and wiggled them until they came out. I then filled them with potting soil and my hens and put them in my flower beds to watch them grow!!!
This is the big planter- after one month


This is the smaller planter-after one month
Suggested materials:
  • Quikrete   (Lowes Home Improvement)
  • Water
  • Old towels   (laundry room)
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Frequently asked questions
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3 of 4 questions
  • Cynthia Nye Cynthia Nye on Apr 24, 2016
    I like the idea but I think if I make one, I'll wrap the corners around a plastic bottle to create a curl rather than have it flair out so much. I wonder if Rit dye would work to color the cement?
  • Karla Stover Karla Stover on Apr 27, 2016
    Where did you get the Quikrite-----hobby store or hardware store?
  • Ruth Ruth on May 15, 2016
    You display a bag of quikcrete. Is this a brand name? Does it contain mortar, stone, or sand? Thank you Ruth
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2 of 49 comments
  • Regina McCann Regina McCann on Mar 12, 2017

    I loved the idea Karen and I made several planters . They are decorated for winter and bring a lot of style to my house and for the houses I sale. Thank you for the brilliant idea!

  • Karen Holsopple Karen Holsopple on Mar 12, 2017

    Those look GREAT!!!! I think they're the neatest thing and so easy to make!!!

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