I made the concrete ball in the front of the photo intending to cover it with mosaics but I like the colour so much I’m going to leave it in its natural state.
It’s not totally smooth but I like the uneven texture.
I’ve made these balls before using a stiff rubber ball as the mold but this time I used a plastic light shade I found on the verge intended for the council verge pick up. Every few months we put unwanted things on the verge for collection but before they’re collected lots of people take things they can reuse ( recycle,upcycle). A great way to reuse things rather than send them to land fill.
The light fitting is perfect for the job as it has a “neck” a little stand for the finished ball. I washed, dried and then stood the light fitting in a plastic plant pot.
You need:
1. a mold which can be anything round like a hard ball or a light fitting. If you use a ball, cut a round opening in the top for pouring the concrete in.
2. a “stand” for your mold. I use plastic plant pots.
3. quick set concrete and a jug of water
4. a bucket and stirring stick
5. rubber gloves
Mixed some concrete in an old commercial food bucket using a bamboo garden stake as a stirrer. I make it runny enough to pour but not too wet.
Poured and packed the concrete into the mold wearing rubber gloves for protection, bumping it on the bricks every now and then to prevent too many air bubbles.
Removed the light fitting from the stand after it had dried for two days and left it two more days as we’d had very wet weather but it was completely dry anyway.
Wrapped the dried out concrete ball still in the light fitting in a thick polythene bag. If you’ve used a rubber ball you’ll need a trimmer to cut it in half to peel it off.
Put on protective goggles and tapped the brittle plastic with a hammer to break it.
Used a screw driver the lift and crack off the plastic shards.
It’s finished and I’m really pleased with the colour, smoothness and size.
July 3rd was International Plastic Bag Free Day. In Western Australia the main supermarkets have stopped supplying free single use plastic bags. Shoppers need to take their own fabric, straw, woven polypropylene, thick plastic bags or boxes for their shopping or buy multiple use bags at the checkout.
The intention of the day is to raise awareness of the brief use made of plastic shopping bags for carrying our purchases but magnifies the problem when they enter our environment, especially waterways.