Recently, I have been called the Martha Stewart of crafts by a few fellow bloggers (you know who you are, and thanks!) so I decided to take my craft projects up a notch. Today, I bring you Cement Letters!
I headed to Pat Catans over the weekend and purchased two of those hard cardboard letters, and X and an O. Because of all the love I have for my Sweetie, I decided to cement our hugs & kisses in stone, well, so to speak. Each letter is approximately 8″ in height and 5″ in width, and about an inch thick.
First, I cut out the back of each letter with a knife, and removed the cardboard insides. This will be the mold for the cement. Do not cut the sides!
Next, I mixed up some quick drying cement & water in a bucket and made a pancake batter consistency. If it is too thick to mix, add a little more water. Too soupy, add a little more cement. With quick drying cement, you truly have to work quickly as it sets really fast. Always wear gloves when working with cement and a face mask as you do not want to breath in any cement dust.
Pour the cement into your cardboard letters carefully and make sure it fills up all the way up to the top of the mold.
Now, you need to wait. This is the hard part. You need to wait at least 24 hours to remove the mold from the letter. Do not pick up or move your mold during this 24 hour period either.
Once your cement had hardened for 24 hours, it is time to remove the cardboard from the cement letter. To tell you the truth, this part took a little time, but it was not hard to remove the cardboard, as it has stuck to your cement letter. Just get one of your kitchen scrubbies, wet it, and gently rub back and forth on the cardboard and it just rolls off the letter. Keep rubbing all around the letter until all of the cardboard is removed. Rinse under water. Set your letters outside to dry a bit more.
There you have it! Cement letters for your bookshelf, your garden, a gift, your front porch, or anywhere you wish to add a little charm! Now, I want to head back to Pat Catans and pick up a larger letter to make a really large one for the flower bed! And, if I can find some cardboard numbers, I would like to make some cement house numbers to sit on the front porch too! (Pat Catans just did not have any numbers when I was in the store)
NOTE: If you wanted to “add” a stake to your cement letter or number, all you would need to do is make a little hole in the bottom of your letter or number mold first, insert the stake up into the letter mold, then pour the cement in the mold. Once the cement dries, your stake will be securely attached to your letter!
With Memorial Day weekend coming up, why don’t you head on up to Pat Catans or your favorite craft store and pick up some letters to make for yourself!