Concrete vases cast in plastic or glass bottles come out as smooth as stone. These DIY vases look great in any room of the house and are a great low cost DIY centerpiece option for weddings. You can make yourself an entire set of vases with a single bag of concrete mix and the contents of your recycling bin.

SUPPLIES:

Quikrete Commercial Grade Countertop Mix in White and Grey
Available at Home Depot
I prefer the Commercial Grade Quikrete Countertop Mix for these type of projects but Quikrete 5000 will work just fine as well.



Plastic or Glass Bottles with Caps
Recycle
Hopefully Styrofoam packaging will be replaced with more responsible alternatives in the future, but if it isn’t going to biodegradable on its own, you might as well put it to use before it goes in a landfill.

Pens, Candles or Test Tubes

TOOLS:

RYOBI 18 Volt Cordless Drill
Available at Home Depot










Husky 7" Diagonal Pliers
Available at Home Depot







Husky Box Cutter
Available at Home Depot

INSTRUCTIONS:

STEP 1: Cut the Bottle
It is easiest to fill the bottles from a large hole, so cut off the bottom of the plastic bottles. Glass bottles need to have a wide mouth to be filled from the top.





STEP 2: Drill a Hole in the Caps of the Bottles
Drill a hole that will tightly accommodate a pen, candle or test tube.







STEP 3: Mix the Concrete and Fill the Bottles
Make sure the bottles are clean and then place them in a stationary position where they can be filled without falling over. Mix the concrete and spoon it into the bottles. Make sure you push the wet concrete down into the bottle. Tap and vibrate the full bottles to bring air bubbles to the surface. I used 2 different colors of Quikrete to get different shades of grey.











STEP 4: Remove the Bottles
For plastic bottles, let the concrete cure at least 24 hours before gently cutting away the plastic with a box cutter and diagonal pliers. The concrete is not fully cured and the vases are a little fragile, which is good because you can scrape the bottom of the vases flat if need be. Vases cast in glass need to have the bottles broken off around them. I recommend waiting 4-5 days to let the concrete cure before breaking the glass with light taps from a hammer.











STEP 5: Remove the Inner Part of the Mold
If you used a plastic pen or candle for the inner part of the mold, I recommend applying heat before removing it. I had a few vases break as I tried to remove the pens. For the tests tubes, I just used diagonal pliers to crush them into fragments that could be poured out.



















Good luck making your own concrete vases and please email or tweet photos to @benuyeda or ben@homemade-modern.com. For more detailed instructions, dimensioned drawings and different variations of the project, check out our soon-to-be-released book.

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