We are so excited to have Melanie from Artzy Creations sharing these DARLING DIY Concrete Flower Votives with us today!
Hi Everyone! I’m Melanie Artz from Artzy Creations and I’m so excited to be here again on Made From Pinterest. Do I have a great DIY project for you. Look at these DIY Flower Concrete Votives. They are so simple and easy that you might just end up making them for family, friends, & everyone inbetween. This has to be one of my favorite projects as of late and is PER-fect for beautiful summer evenings. I hope you like them just as much as I do.
Here’s What You Need:
- Wilton Mini Flower Silicone Mold
- Pam Nonstick Spray
- *Mortar- not concrete
- (6) Tea Light Candles
- Container to Mix Mortar
- Trowel to mix the Mortar
- Sand Paper (Fine or 150 grit)
- Spray Paint (Optional)
I know, I know. I say concrete in the title and now I’m saying Mortar. Well, there’s a good reason why I’m using mortar and not concrete. Technically concrete is made up from 3 things… sand, aggregate (which are different sized rocks) & cement which is the binding agent. Because of the filler rocks in concrete, it’s not the best material for these small molds. Mortar is made up of cement and fine sand which fills in the molds better and will produce a lot less air bubbles. Concrete is just a better known term and sounds better in a DIY project title 🙂
Anyways, here is what you do…
Step 1: Start with about 6 medium trowels of Mortar. It’s a little better to have extra than to have to mix more up, but this was enough for the 6 votives with a little left over. Slowly add your water, mixing while adding. There;s a fine line between not enough and too much, so once it gets close, add little bits at a time until it’s a pretty thick soup.
Step 2: Generously spray your silicone mold with some nonstick cooking spray. You might not have to do this but I wanted them to come out of the mold pretty easily and it worked great. Once sprayed, fill each mold with the mortar mix. Don’t fill them all the way though. Keep the level to about 1/4″ from the top of the mold. This leaves room & keeps the mortar from overflowing the mold when you push the tea light candles in place. Lightly tap the sides of each cup in your mold to try to get out any air bubbles. This is a very important step or you will end up with holes in your votives after they dry, and do it a few times over the course of the next 10-15 minutes.
Step 3: First, inspect your tea light candles and make sure the sides aren’t flattened or crushed or whatever. You want a nice round one, so once you burn through the first one, it’s easy to pull it out & replace it with a new one. Set the candle as close to the center of the mold as possible and SLOWLY press it into your mixture while wiggling it back and fourth a little bit. This is honestly a little easier said than done, but it’s really not that difficult with a little patience. Notice how the one in the lower right of mine isn’t exactly centered. Once you insert them, it’s a little too late, but they still turn out cute, and maybe they add that little extra hand made look 😉 Push the candles down until the rim is flush with the mortar and let them set up some more. I found that every 10-15 mins over the next hour or so I was going back and pushing the candle back down into the mortar. it seemed to sort of want to float, plus as the mortar dries, it shrinks, so keep checking for a bit. Then I let these set up over night.
Step 4: Carefully take them out of the mold. You should notice that the tops have a little lip on them from the shrinking/drying process. That’s why I went back with some fine sand paper and LIGHTLY sanded the edges. I also took out the tea light candle and sanded the sides and bottom of the impression. You probably don’t have to do this, but I did because I think it gives it a really nice finished look.
Step 5: AND THAT’S IT! A completed tea light votive that you made yourself. They’d be absolutely perfect for camping or super cute just on the center of a picnic table.
I LOVE the raw- concrete look of these, but since I made six of these tea light candles, I decided to add a little color to a few by lightly spray painting them. I didn’t want to cover them too much because I still wanted to be able to see the porous nature of the concrete. I still haven’t decided which ones I like best and fortunately, I don’t have to decide since I have both options!
A huge thank you to the “Three Sisters” for letting me share this DIY with you, and I look forward to sharing another fun project next month with you here on Made From Pinterest.
PS… If you liked this DIY project, maybe you’d like this one too!
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