So, while I was working on my other house number for the Panduro Concrete Challenge last week I also had this idea, a flat plaque that could be hung I suppose, but I kind of like it like this, embedded in the gravel outside our house.
Again I printed and cut a number out of paper. I do love that fat Arial Black 7 so I used it again but smaller than the last so it would fit inside the tin lid I wanted to use as the mold.
By the way, tin lid = not a good idea. It's so much better to use a cardboard lid and line it with the liquid rubber thing because paper can be peeled off after the concrete has cured. More on that later though.
I traced around my paper template onto a piece of foam core board and proceeded to cut the 7 out with a craft knife.
Here it is. Because the foam core board has paper on top and I was afraid that the foam might stick to the concrete…
…I used regular clear office tape to cover the whole thing. I taped. And taped and taped some more and…
…in the end I flipped my 7 over so it was backwards because I was using the bottom of the tin as the front of my plaque. Oh, and I oiled both the number and the tin before adding the concrete mix.
Here it's curing in the garage with the rest of my things. After It had been sitting in the garage for about 24 hours and been sprayed every so often with water it was time to take it out of the mold. Ehem. This is where I got into trouble.
The dang tin lid didn't want to let go of my concrete plaque. At all. I tapped gently. Harder. Violently. But to no avail. I ended up having to take my pliers out and break into the mold which caused some cracking to the finished plaque. It also caused some blood shed as I cut myself on the tin lid.
I did get it out in the end though and after removing my foam core 7…
… all's well that ends well and so, that's my 7th and last submission to the Panduro Concrete Challenge. Fitting it's a 7 then. Lucky no 7? We'll see. Hope my little crafts have inspired you to do something out of concrete. It's been so much fun!
16 Comments
It looks great, I’d love to have one of those outside our house. A project for summer maybe.
I like the house numbers best. This one is such a subtle way of adding the number. Thanks for the ideas!
Fantastiska projekt du har gjort! Jag är otroligt impad, och ångrar lite att jag inte ställde upp jag med. Fast å andra sidan hade jag aldrig kommit på lika bra idéer, så det kanske var lika bra. Superinspirerande!
vilken kul idé! och dina bilder är alltid så fantastiskt bra! jag tittar ofta in hos dig, även om jag inte alltid kommenterar.
What a nice idea! Sleek, stylish and pretty.
Maybe if I had the time, I would get inspired from this and make a whole lot of these “stepping stones” some plain and other patterned to decorate your gravel 🙂 Maybe some with the last name initial too.
So would you do this challenge again? I liked your creativity.
Fantastic ideas! You always suprise me with your imagination. Good luck!
They do these challenges once in a while apparently and I’d jump at the chance to do another one! Last time was completetly different (I wasn’t in it) though, there were craft papers, vinyl decals etc so the next one would probably be totally different from this concrete one.
I wish I was that creative to come up with these fine uses. Love it.
I absolutely love these concrete challenges you have done. I’m hoping to make some of the house numbers for my girl friend’s houses. As well as the bookend (it was my fav).
count me in as one who has been completely inspired…my house is screaming for some proper numbeers and these are it! thank you!
I have enjoyed EVERY single one of your concrete ideas. Thank you so much for sharing these ideas with us.
*hug* 🙂
I think my favourite is this one. But I also really like the book end.
I’m curious, If you had to pick one, what’s your favourite?
I love the bookend because it’s something I really needed and it works perfectly!
thanks for the great idea, and tutorial. tried it out this weekend with an “m”: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mennyj/4742224147/
Thanks for the information, i really enjoyed your post a lot, this is really becomes a source of inspiration not only for me but for all of us who are here, thanks for sharing and keep us update.