Fun with Concrete: Funky Stuff You Can Make Yourself

Did you know that Thomas Edison designed a concrete house complete with real concrete accessories? It's true! Edison's house is just one of the many extraordinary projects people have created out of this amazing, versatile material. But you don't need a cement truck and acres of land to create your own concrete works at home. Try these simple concrete crafts to make funky home décor, Birthday gifts, and even cool accessories for your desk.

Creative DIY pencil and paperclip holders, paperweights, and even file trays make fantastic alternatives to regular store-bought supplies. Concrete is a classic and cool aesthetic for both school and office, plus you can make large batches of them for art classes and events. To make these durable and handy accessories at home, you will need the following:

• Cement powder and water
• Parchment paper,
• Disposable plastic and paper cups
• 9x13 and 7x11 rectangular baking pans
• Rocks, Coin rolls (for weight)
• Sand molds

To start, try making a small paperclip holders first. Prep your cement and fill up a small paper cup halfway with your mixture. To create a vessel, you'll need to choose a small disposable plastic cup and fill it with either coins or small rocks to add weight. Gently work the weighted cup into the middle of the wet cement. Let dry for 24 hours and remove both disposable cups to see your first concrete paperclip holder. Follow these same instructions and simply adjust the cup sizing and concrete amount to make larger pencil holders and cool containers for the house.

Cement file trays are really fun to make. They're totally different plus they provide a lot of space to create funky designs. For this craft, you just need your rectangular baking pans and parchment paper. Cover the inside of your 9x13 baking pan with parchment paper and fill halfway with wet cement. Then take your 7x11 baking pan, and press it down about halfway through the still went concrete. Let dry overnight, and remove pans and parchment paper to see your home made filing tray.

These are handy for organizing kids rooms, desks, classrooms, and as mail or magazine trays for the house. You can also decorate the bottom of your tray with spray paint and stencils, stickers, acrylic paint splatters, and more!

This is where you can really let your imagination run wild because kid sand molds sets make the best vessels for creating funky paper weights. Here, you can create a starfish, octopus, castle, ice cream cone, puppies, clowns, pyramid, and many more fun objects. This time, you don't need a weighted element. Just line your sand mold with parchment paper, fill your mold to the top, and let sit overnight to create your super easy paperweights.

Besides painting your concrete piece, you can also create awesome texturing during the drying process. One simple way to create texture is to take wide double sided tape and wrap it around the inside of whatever vessel you're using before filling it up with your concrete mixture. Cut a long strip of lace and fix it to the taped parchment paper before filling your pan with concrete. When you remove your piece, you'll notice an awesome imprinted pattern. Instead of lace, you can also attach alphabet letters, buttons, coins, and other materials to create unique textures and messages.

Try making a set of textured concrete bowls, planters, and planting trays for a gardener in your life or a bold and colorful pencil holder for that first day of school. So keep that bag of cement powder handy to open the door to even more funky and fun craft ideas!