DIY Concrete Bowls

Concrete is an amazing material.  It is made of made of mixing an aggregate (read small rocks and sand), cement and water. It was originally developed by the ancient Romans (yeah, a lot of those ruins you thought were marble, are actually really, really old concrete...sorry.)  Although it's used widely in construction, it's gained popularity in anything from counter tops to votive holders.   I've always loved the stone-like quality of the raw finished project so decided it was the perfect material to make some bowls for a beach themed wedding on one of my episodes of Home Made Simple on the Oprah Winfrey Network.  When you use quick drying concrete and some mixing bowls it makes it an easy afternoon project!Supplies

-        Ready to mix concrete

-        Water

-        Sea shells

-        Nesting metal mixing bowls

-        Non-stick cooking spray

-        Glass hurricane

-        Sand

-        Candle

-        Gloves

 Steps

1.     Pair large and small mixing bowls.

2.     Spray outside of smaller bowls and inside of larger bowls with non-stick cooking spray.

3.     Wearing gloves, mix the dry concrete with water according to directions. You want the consistency of the wet concrete to be similar to a ball of wet dirt4.     Fill the larger bowl with between 1 and 2 inches of concrete.5.     Place smaller bowl inside larger bowl, allowing it to rest on the wet concrete.6.     Fill space between bowls with concrete, inserting some shells against large bowl as you go.

7.     Pack concrete down, removing air bubbles.  You can help this by poking with a stick and slamming the bowls on a hard surface.8.     Let dry according to directions.

9.     Remove bowls.10.  Place glass hurricane in bowl and add sand and candle.  You can also just use the bowls on their own.To see me do the project live, tune in to Home Made Simple this Saturday, 9 am (8c) on the Oprah Winfrey Network!