It must be my all time favourite DIY blog, just crammed with super clever projects and DIY tutorials . So I am really pleased and excited that Benita Larsson, the brain behind the blog Chez Larsson has agreed to contribute a guest blog post this week.
Recently Benita was asked by hobby craft shop Panduro Hobby to take part in a pretty challenging competition, alongside 39 other Swedish bloggers. Each competitor was sent a kit containing concrete and other supplies and were asked to be creative and come up with fun ideas that could inspire others to try the crafting with concrete.
I have to admit, I’ve never considered using concrete for my projects because I’d imagined it would be too complicated to use.
Benita proved this isn’t the case though, and she submitted seven different concrete crafts projects – ending up winning the grand prize, a gift card with 4000 kronor / £350.
Here Benita’s going to show us how to use concrete to make a heavy, raw looking book end. So clever, no wonder she won the prize! But all the ideas are wonderful so it’s worth going to the blog and checking the rest out too. I can’t wait to get my hands on some concrete and try them myself, but in the meantime, here’s Benita with the details.
Cat x
I prefer making stuff that has a use and a purpose rather than just being decorative and I really needed a bookend. Here it is! B goes three ways. B for Benita, B for books and B for böcker (that’s books in Swedish).
My bookend started it’s life out as a Ferrero Rocher container. I know, too yummy. The MDF letter B came in a craft swap about a year ago.
When filling concrete into a hard container like this plastic one it’s advised to coat the inside with some vegetable oil. I ended up breaking the container to get my bookend out but I think it would have been even harder without the oil.
So again after filling the two sides of the container with the concrete mix and with the B placed at the bottom of the lid I left it for 24 hours in the garage (don’t leave it outside in the sun, it’ll dry too quickly and won’t cure well). Broke the mold, got the bookend out (had to do a bit of scraping to get the letter to emerge as some concrete had seeped in under) and sprayed with water several times over the next day.
I ended up painting the B white and added felt dots underneath so my bookend won’t scratch the shelf it sits on.
Everyday letters
Getting Started
Yes please Chez Bogato!
