DIY Laced Cement Votive


Hi there, it’s Claire from Fellow Fellow here!

I’ve got a really cute DIY for you today! A laced cement votive, perfect for summer nights spent outdoors (the best way to spend summer evenings!). 

 

Nothing is better than sitting outside on a warm night with some pretty lit votives on the table giving you a bit of lovely dim light. A little motivation to spruce up your outdoor space might be just what you need right now to motive you to plan something fun.

We love all kinds of outdoor parties and entertaining,  maybe something with your neighbors

 

You can make a delicious cheeseplate for the Fourth of July, like this one, 

 

or even try a DIY moss + succulent platter

 

BACK TO LIGHTING: THE VOTIVES!

The good news is that you don’t have to buy votives, they’re easy to make with cement and so many options to choose from in terms of design and construction. We love the design of the lace, but you can choose any or no design on the cement you’d like. 

 

MORE THINGS TO DO WITH THOSE DIY VOTIVES:

These would be great wedding or party favors if you want to give your guests a little momento to take home from your evening. A little initial would be fun here! 

This would also be a fun project with kids too! We love fun crafts with kids especially during the summertime. Maybe they can each add their own design or initial to the votive to really personalize it. 

 

Lovely idea for a gift for a teacher too. Sometimes they’re the trickiest to shop for end of year/holiday and the child can also leave their initial. 

 

THE VOTIVE SHAPE

The good thing about making your own, is you can make them any shape you want!

Something big? SURE! Just remember you’ll need to tear it off when you’re done, and you’ll need to think about adding multiple votive holes if you want lots of spots for light. 

A FEW SHAPE IDEAS:

SOMETHING BIG. A fun idea when you’re gardening is using the recyclable plant containers to shape your large candle holder (like the one above)

OR You could also make them tall, something like this one (above). Maybe with a long cardboard tube. 

Or something long with multiple votive spots like this one above. 

 

A STRAIGHT container is best, tapered gets tricky! BUT we love little gold details in these above. 

You could even paint the tops like these above from ETSY

 

BUT, LET’S START WITH SOMETHING SMALL

In this instance, we went with a small paper cup shape. 

 

HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED:

Cement powder (you can get it on Amazon or your local hardware store)

– Paper cups to mix cement in

– Wooden sticks to stir cement mix

– Coins

– Petroleum Jelly (or cooking spray) – optional 

– Sticker tape like this 

– A disposable container (plastic, or paper cup) for the outside of your votive

– A smaller disposable container (I used a medicine cup), big enough to hold a tea light

– Sandpaper

– Pliers

 

DIY votive

 

A FEW TIPS:

1. We made a small outdoor container (mine was about 2.5″ diameter) and made from either plastic, or paper (a paper cup works well). It shouldn’t be anything precious as it will have to be cut/torn off at the end.

 

2. If you’re planning to use a wide sticker tape, the outer container works best if it’s a straight cylinder (not tapered). A thin sticker works fine on a tapered container.

 

3.  Make sure the outer container is fairly tall. You don’t want to fill all the way to the top with cement.

 

4. The inside container should be smaller than the outside one, and works best if it’s tapered (mine was 1 3/4″ top diameter). I’m not sure why, but it I tried both and the tapered one was far easier to remove at the end.

 

5. Also having any plastic notches on the inside of the cup would be an advantage when trying to pull it out at the end.

 

6. I only used cement powder, without any rocks or sand. It won’t make the finished product as strong as normal cement, but is smoother. You could always try adding the extra elements to make your votives stronger.

 

 

STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS:

Let’s GO! 

 DIY Votive

STEP 1
Take your larger disposable container and cut the sticker tape to fit around the circumference of the container. If you want to use petroleum jelly or cooking spray to lubricate the inside of the container, now is the time.

 

I tried both with and without, and didn’t find any difference. Peel the sticker off, and wrap it around the inside of your container (closer to the bottom of your container).

DIY votive

STEP 2
Using one of your paper cups, mix some of the cement with water. Mix well with your wooden stick until it’s a smooth paste (around the consistency of soft ice cream). The quantity you’ll need depends on the size of the container you want to make your votive out of.

 

I probably mixed up enough to fill 2/3 of the paper cup. It’s better to make a bit more so you don’t have to mix more half way through the process.

 

STEP 3
If you want to also lubricate the outside of your smaller container, do so now. Pour / scoop cement into your larger container, until it covers your sticker.

 

Then take your smaller container, and put a couple of coins inside.

 

Push the smaller container into the cement, until the top of it is flush with the top of the cement. Try to keep it centered. Put more coins into the smaller container to weigh it down, until it can stay in place without you holding it.

 

DIY votive step 2

STEP 4
Walk away! Leave it sit for 24 hours.

 

STEP 5
After your votive has been setting for 24 hours, you should be able to cut/tear off the outer container.

 

Peel off the sticker, and use the pliers to get the smaller container out (this can be tricky!).

 

Once both containers have been removed, let the votive sit and dry for another 12 hours or so.

DIY votive

Step 6.
Once your votive is dry, turn it over onto some sand paper, and sand the top rim until it’s even and flat.

 

Put a candle in it and light it….Then stand back and admire your work 🙂

DIY Laced Cement Votive

DIY Laced Cement Votive

Nothing is better than sitting outside on a warm night with some pretty lit votives on the table giving you a bit of lovely dim light.

The good news is that you don’t have to buy them, they’re easy to make and so many options to choose from in terms of design and construction. You can go with a paper cup like we did below, or any other shape that you can easily tear off when dry. 

Active Time 10 minutes
Additional Time 1 day
Total Time 1 day 10 minutes

Materials

  • Cement powder (you can get it on Amazon or your local hardware store)
  • Paper cups to mix cement in
  • Wooden sticks to stir cement mix
  • Coins
  • Petroleum Jelly (or cooking spray) – optional 
  • Sticker tape
  • A disposable container (plastic, or paper cup) for the outside of your votive
  • A smaller disposable container (I used a medicine cup), big enough to hold a tea light
  • Sandpaper

Tools

  • Pliers

Instructions

STEP 1:

Take your larger disposable container and cut the sticker tape to fit around the circumference of the container. If you want to use petroleum jelly or cooking spray to lubricate the inside of the container, now is the time.

I tried both with and without, and didn’t find any difference. Peel the sticker off, and wrap it around the inside of your container (closer to the bottom of your container).

STEP 2:

Using one of your paper cups, mix some of the cement with water. Mix well with your wooden stick until it’s a smooth paste (around the consistency of soft ice cream). The quantity you’ll need depends on the size of the container you want to make your votive out of.

I probably mixed up enough to fill 2/3 of the paper cup. It’s better to make a bit more so you don’t have to mix more half way through the process.

STEP 3:

If you want to also lubricate the outside of your smaller container, do so now. Pour / scoop cement into your larger container, until it covers your sticker.

Then take your smaller container, and put a couple of coins inside.

Push the smaller container into the cement, until the top of it is flush with the top of the cement. Try to keep it centered. Put more coins into the smaller container to weigh it down, until it can stay in place without you holding it.

STEP 4:

Walk away! Leave it sit for 24 hours.

STEP 5:

After your votive has been setting for 24 hours, you should be able to cut/tear off the outer container.

 Peel off the sticker, and use the pliers to get the smaller container out (this can be tricky!).

Once both containers have been removed, let the votive sit and dry for another 12 hours or so.

Step 6:

Once your votive is dry, turn it over onto some sand paper, and sand the top rim until it’s even and flat.

Notes

A FEW TIPS:

1. It’s best to keep the outside container fairly small (mine was about 2.5″ diameter) and made from either plastic, or paper (a paper cup works well). It shouldn’t be anything precious as it will have to be cut/torn off at the end.

2. If you’re planning to use a wide sticker tape, the outer container works best if it’s a straight cylinder (not tapered). A thin sticker works fine on a tapered container.

3.  Make sure the outer container is fairly tall. You don’t want to fill all the way to the top with cement. 

4. The inside container should be smaller than the outside one, and works best if it’s tapered (mine was 1 3/4″ top diameter). I’m not sure why, but it I tried both and the tapered one was far easier to remove at the end.

5. Also having any plastic notches on the inside of the cup would be an advantage when trying to pull it out at the end.

6. I only used cement powder, without any rocks or sand. It won’t make the finished product as strong as normal cement, but is smoother. You could always try adding the extra elements to make your votives stronger.

 

By contributor Claire of Fellow Fellow

Comments

This looks like a cool project to keep me entertained during the pandemic. As a local concrete contractor I’m always on the lookout for cool DIY projects like this to do with my kids when I’m not out doing jobs. Thanks for sharing!

Beautiful cement votive. Thank you for even taking the time to even share, definitely look forward to more articles

I have done these with small bowls as well then stencil a design on it and put succulents in them

Great idea.some might want to try the fabric shop for vinyl tablecloth with a textured surface to line large cup. Have fun.

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Portland cement is just the cement powder, no gravel/rocks in its mix. Any hardware store will have it.

I think I will use these for my small succulents and give them as gifts. Thanks for the tutorial!

You could add pigment powder and liquid strengthener to the concrete powder mix to achieve colors and more strength. These are available at all hardware stores and you would need only small amounts.

I really like this. But how about using a higher inside cup, so you won’t have to push it flush to the edge of the cement. That’ll make it a lot easier to remove it after drying (I think), because you have something to hold on to.

These are lovely! Did I miss the part where you explained how to do the one in the back, with the triangles? Are those just from a different style cup?

Rachel-

I bet she cut into the votive after it had cured for 24 hrs., but was still not fully dry. Like, for example, when you tear off the outer cup and take out the inner cup, then take an exacto knife or a crafting knife and etch in your design. She may not have included that tutorial because it’s not as foolproof or as easy. Hope that helps!

Hi Rachel, the votive at the back was just done using a different cup.. it was just a disposable drinking cup in that pattern, so it was really easy!

Wow, this one is great! I’m always intimidated by cement but you make it so doable

Great idea and super tutorial 🙂
But how do I make sure to get hold of the right sticker tape ?? (besides the links you kindly enclosed)
I take it, the tape has to have some kind of relief structure to be able to make impression in the cement !!

Hi Mette, yes finding one that has texture to it is key.. no point just using a printed tape. The ones I have are like a thin plastic lace, which have cutouts that give the pattern in the cement. If you can’t find it in sticker form, you could always try gluing something relatively thin (paper lace, trim, real lace?) inside your container instead.

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