These great concrete orbs can be made with any fabric or yarn as long as it is wide enough and can absorb some concrete. You can use a rotary cutter to cut strips of fleece or use some chunky yarn. (complete detailed instructions here)
by MadeByBarb
Concrete Garden Orbs
3 Materials
$5
1 Hour
Easy
Use some old yarn or fabric strips to make these light weight concrete garden orbs. They make great accents to the garden as they stand up to all weather. This is my own original design, and quite simple.
The 'stiffener' in this project is portland cement. It is the active ingredient in concrete and usually some aggregate is added. Here, we will be using the fibres as the aggregate.
As a form for this project you can use any inflatable balloon or beach ball. Make a resting place for them on a bucket and have them ready before mixing any concrete.
Get suited up with a dust mask and gloves to mix a slurry of portland cement and water. It should be of a fairly fluid consistency.
Take your long strips or yarn and dampen it. Once dampened submerge it in the concrete and squeeze to allow it to absorb the cement. Do not lose the end in the mix.
Once it is quite 'concretey' pull it through your fingers and wrap around the form in a random way trying to evenly space the lines. The more dense the wrapping; the more strong the shape. Leave a place for the beach ball to be pulled out.
The thin cement will chip away afterward. Let is cure in a shady place. Spraying with water will help strengthen the concrete.
Poke the balloon or deflate the beach ball. The transparent nature of these makes for great use of fairy lights as well.
Simple shapes accent the texture of the garden quite well. I love how they can be combined as well. For more options see here
These will be easy to move and can be made in any size... Awesome!
Suggested materials:
- Yarn or fabric strips (general store)
- Portland Cement (Hardware/home improvement store)
- Some inflatable balloon or beachball
Top Hometalk Projects
Add A Hint Of Farmhouse Style In Your Home With These Ideas
Fun Father's Day Gift Ideas You Can Make Yourself
3 Simple Green Ways To Clean In Your Home
30 Jaw-Dropping Decorating Techniques You've Never Seen Before
Try These Gorgeous Ideas And The Mailman Will Never Miss Your Mailbox!
30 Creative Painting Techniques & Ideas You MUST See
Do You Want to Make Over a Room in Your Home & Add Gorgeous Built-Ins?
Popular Project Book
Join the conversation
3 of 64 comments
![Kathy Brady-O'Brien]()
Kathy Brady-O'Brienon Jan 13, 2018I love this idea! Planning to try this out as a family project--cant wait to try it! Thank you for sharing!!!-
![Debi]()
Debion Feb 20, 2020Great Project AND cheap!!!!
![MadeByBarb]()
MadeByBarbon Aug 23, 2020Yes, there are so many ways to use up what we have, colour/pattern does not matter!!!
Your comment...
Popular Project Book
Have a question about this project?
Have anyone tried adding die to the concrete?
Been making these for several years now...I've added some basic acrylic craft paint to the slurry and had no problems. Provided a nice tint, so I'm sure you could use a dye. Maybe you could even mix in some RIT powdered dye.
I would like to try making these with a stem. Like allium flowers. Any ideas how to attach a stem? I have some green plastic coated metal garden stakes which I could use but not sure how.
I have been making flowers using a piece of rebar or a large drill bit as a stem. I would put the “stem” through the “flower” and attach it with concrete or glue.