Easy DIY Concrete Planter

by TheRusticWillow

5 Materials

$10

Easy

Each month, a group of blog friends and I get together to make a project around one common ingredient from Home Depot. This month's item we had to incorporate was concrete. I had never really worked with concrete before and it was a great learning experience.
I wanted to create something that was for concrete newbies like myself. I wanted it to be easy yet beautiful! Enter: DIY Concrete Planter. This planter is made from an old towel drenched in concrete and hung over a bucket to dry. Couldn't be easier!

Materials needed:

– 1/2 bag of QUIKRETE

– 1 mixing stick for concrete

– water, accordingly

– 2 5-gallon buckets

– 1 towel

The steps to this project are extremely basic, and I’ll tell you my errors in the process so that you don’t run into them yourself.

For this project you’ll want to wear rubber gloves: I hear concrete poisoning isn’t too pretty!

First, fill half of a 5-gallon bucket with concrete (you’ll want to mix it with enough water to make it a little soupier than normal, but not too runny).

Take an old towel (I used a raggedy tan towel I found in our linen closet), and take a second 5-gallon bucket and flip it upside down. Lay the towel over the bucket to test the length of the towel. You’ll want the ends to just be touching the ground, but you don’t want too much excess. If your towel is too long, cut some of the length off on either side. Keep measuring the towel on your bucket until you get the size you desire.

Put your towel into the concrete bucket. Keep mixing your towel around and cover every single centimeter of it in concrete. This is the most important step–my towel had a few spots not covered in concrete, and you ended up seeing those spots in the final product.

Once your entire towel is covered in the concrete slush, drape it over the upside down and bucket. Move it around and make sure the sides are even and laid out how you want them to look.

If you see any bare spots, now is the time to take some concrete and patch those spots.

Let the planter dry for 24-48 hours. Once completely dry, remove the bucket from the concrete towel. Flip the planter right-side up. Fill with soil and a plant. Display proudly!

Head over to the blog to see the rest of the projects in this month's Home Depot Gift Challenge! Believe me, you don't want to miss these projects.

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Frequently asked questions

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3 of 59 questions

Eld535365 on Mar 20, 2022

What about some kind of drainage hole for the plants?

2
Joan on Apr 12, 2022

No drainage hole???

0
Linda Mailloux Willms on Jun 01, 2024

Does this have to put away for the winter?

0

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2 of 423 comments

Mary on Aug 05, 2023

Hi, I really like working with towels and cement. This pink vase is part of a pair I'm making for a friend, that I promised her a couple of years ago, lol, and since I had some extra cement left over, I did a cucumber leaf birdbath. I love your planter, you did a great job

6 Reply
Misty on Nov 14, 2023

I did this about two or three years pre-pandemic and received a LOT of compliments. Sprayed cement red. Suggest filling with soil after placing pot where you want it. This thing is heavy. Wish I had saved the picture!

1 Reply