HOW TO build Concrete Succulent Planters

Last year at The One of a Kind Show we bought some concrete succulent planters. Everyone who comes into our house loves and comments on (in a positive way).

They look really cool, and I love a good little project, so I decided to build some myself.

While they are messy to build, they are super easy. And, you can do some cool spray painting like I did, or you can give some to the kids to paint themselves.

The only thing “DADable” about this post is letting your kids paint the final product, which can be a good arts and crafts project for an hour – my niece, nephew and second cousin-in-law had a blast doing this (in the video below you can hear them trying to name some new colours for painting, while I was making a second batch).

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Quikrete (any hardware store should have this)
• Spray paint (I used metallic gold and bronze,for any surface)
• Red Solo Cups, and some smaller cups (Dollar Store)
• A big plastic spoon for mixing and pouring (Dollar Store)
• Vegetable oil and wet paper towels – or, some PAM Spray
• A big jug of water
• Medical gloves
• Painters tape

Making the planters:

1. 1. Put on the gloves – you don’t want to get concrete poisoning (I don’t actually know if this is a thing, but I had it in my mind that I didn’t want to touch any of the stuff
   2. Pick a work area, and cover it with plastic wrap
   3. Layout all the materials

      

   4. Take the paper towels, and pour on the vegetable oil, then rub the inside of the Red Solo Cups and the outside of the smaller cups – dont be shy with the oil, as this will help you release the forms
   5. Mix the concrete – I make it a bit wetter than the instructions call for

      

   6. Pour the concrete into the Red Solo Cups, and fill about an inch from the top, then tap them to get out bubbles
   7. Push the smaller cup into the Red Solo Cup, and repeat for as much concrete and cups that you have
   8. Set them in a well ventilated space, and let cure for 24 hours

      

Painting the planters:

• Grab the planters, and remove the cups – if you used a lot of oil, this should be easy. I lost 3 planters because I couldn’t separate them

  

• Grab the painters tape, and tape cool designs on the planters – remember, you’re basically working with a negative – so tape where you do NOT want to see paint on the planter

  

• Then, go spray them up, and let dry for 30+ minutes
• Remove tape, and you’ve got your planters

  

• Run to the store, and buy some succulents, and drop them in!

Done!

Special shout out to Casie Stewart for showing me how this is done.