We all love those garden ornaments, but they can be pretty expensive anywhere you look. Here at TGG we decided to make our own DIY concrete garden globes, and it turned out to be a fun and pretty rewarding project that cost less than $15 for three balls. We also tried out a couple different recipes, including a hypertufa… we’ve included a shot of our sample balls and the recipes below! For our final globes, we used recipe 2, a good compromise between a little organic without being too rustic. Here’s what you need:

Supplies:

• Old glass lamp globes (we also tried a playground ball, it worked, but didn’t keep a perfect round shape!) These are thrift store finds!
• Portland cement
• Peat Moss
• Water
• Mixing container (We used a Rubbermaid storage container)
• Stir stick (we say that, but we pretty much just used our hands…)
• Rubber gloves
• Cooking spray
• File
• Wire Brush
• Hammer
• Eye protection

Optional recipes: Perlite and potting soil (Perlite is found in the indoor plant supply area of your home improvement store)

 Recipe 1- Hypertufa

2 parts cement

3 parts peat moss

3 parts perlite

Water

 

Recipe 2- (This is what we used!)

1 part cement

1 part peat moss

Water

 

Recipe 3-

1 part cement

1 part potting soil

Water

 

Recipe 4-

Pure Portland cement

Water

 

 

Mix your chosen recipe in your container, spray the inside of the globes with cooking spray, then fill your globes…yes, it is messy! You want your recipe to be the consistency of thick cake batter.  Add water if it thickens too much, and use your gloved hands to break up any peat moss chunks.  The idea is to have it of a consistency that’s easy to pour into the mold, but not so wet that it takes forever to dry and cure. Don’t fill the neck of the globe, you want them to end up as round as possible. Set inside a plastic bag  and set upright in a cool place (we used old towels to stabilize them). Let cure for 2-3 days.

 

After the globes have cured for a couple days, you are going to break the glass with the side of a hammer. We left the globes inside the bag while we did this to prevent flying glass shards. WEAR goggles or glasses protection! And use gloves.

 

After all the glass has been removed, use a file to take off any blemishes or protrusions, then rough up the whole surface with a wire brush. Some recipes come out really smooth and even polished looking…if you like that look, feel free to skip the wire brush.

 

Here is a shot of our four recipe balls. In order, from left to right… Hypertufa recipe 1, Recipe 2, Recipe 3, Recipe 4 or the pure Portland cement and water.

 

Our finished DIY concrete garden globes! Think of all the places you could tuck these in for a great contrast in form. In a later post, we will show you how to grow moss on your project… how cool is that?