~thrifty Thursday~{working with concrete}

Here's a fun little thrifty Thursday project that is also a Restoration Hardware knockoff.

Have you seen these spheres at Restoration Hardware with a hefty price tag?

On sale they are $140-$315~ouch!

 I found these old globe light fixtures at a thrift store.

Actually I found one at a thrift store, {$7} one in a free pile at a garage sale, and one I ended up buying at Home Depot. {$9}

Buy your desired sizes and make sure they are perfectly round.

 Then you will need some concrete mix.

I got mine here.

 Start by placing the glass globes in a box with the hole up, 

surrounded by newspaper or bubble wrap. 

Anything that will help keep them upright.

 Mix your concrete in a bucket with a little water.

It's kinda like making pancakes~only don't eat this, it won't taste as good.

A little water goes a long way.

When it becomes pancake batter consistency, you are good to go.

 You can scoop it in the globes, or pour it in.

I actually ended up using my hands, but I needed some serious lotion afterwards.

I used a paint stir stick to make sure it was in evenly.

Then kinda wiggle it to settle the mix. 

Let this sit 24 hours, or at least overnight.

 Once dry, this is what they will look like.

 One at a time, place them in a heavy duty garbage bag, grab your kids,

 and let them break the glass with a hammer. 

Remember your safety glasses.

Tap gently and the glass will break right off inside the bag. 

If you hit it too hard you may break the concrete.

Once most of the glass is off, you can open the bag and gently break 

off any pieces that remain with the hammer.

I used gloves to get mine out and a sanding block to lightly go over the whole piece to ensure all the little specks of glass were off.

That is it!

 You can use them in your garden or indoors.

Right now I am using them on our sofa table.

I cannot wait to make more!

 If you want to make them lighter and more of a cream color here is an idea:

Use plaster of paris 

{found in the paint section}

and vermiculite. 

 which can be found in the gardening section at Home Depot.

The vermiculite will give it a stone appearance and the plaster of paris keeps it from getting too heavy. 

If you do this, work in small batches because it dries a lot faster than the cement.

 These also look good placed on top of fluted cement urns.

Will you be trying this project? 

xoxo