Hello everyone! My name is Marija and this is Creativity Hero channel. In this video I'm going to show you how I made this
unique concrete candle holder with a wooden base. It has an intricate shape
which can be easily achieved with a simple technique for casting concrete.
You don't need any special tools and materials to make such shape. What you
actually need is a thick Styrofoam board, a utility knife, and your imagination.
There is no limit to the shape variations you can achieve with this
method of casting concrete. So let's get started! To make the mold for the
concrete I took a 5 centimeters thick Styrofoam
board. On a piece of paper I drew the desired shape of the concrete
form and then stuck it onto the Styrofoam board with a duct tape to
prevent any movement while cutting. I found the sharpest utility knife and
started cutting ,making sure I follow the lines and keep the knife straight. After
that, I removed the paper and the two cut-outs as well. Actually, I got a
rectangle which consists of two parts, and the wavy form in the middle that
divides the rectangle. To get more complex shape of the candle holder I
predetermined 3 spots where small pieces of this aluminum pipe will be
inserted. Those pieces will be a connection between the 2 concrete
parts. In order to be able to insert the aluminum pipes, I need to cut the middle
part and return it back later. Here is how the holes for the pipes are made:
first the pipe needs to be positioned on the foam and rotated very carefully
until it has some grip. After that, it needs only moderate pressure while
rotating, making sure to keep the part of the pipe straight. Using a hacksaw
I cut the aluminum pipe into 3 short pieces. The concrete form needs to have 3
holes for the two light candles, which are actually the purpose of this project.
So, in my workshop I found a small piece of this 1 centimeter thick Styrofoam
which I used to make circles with the same size as the 2 light candles. After
I found the right spot for the circles I hot glued them in place. To secure them
even better I inserted toothpicks into each circle that will serve as dowels. I used a fiberboard for the bottom support of the mold. Using a handsaw, I cut a
piece of the fiberboard and made it a bit larger than the Styrofoam itself. Now
I can join all the parts together in order to make a firm mold with a
desired shape. Before gluing the middle, I inserted the aluminum pipes inside the
holes that I previously made, and then hot glued it in place. Here I also
reinforced the joints with toothpicks. Lastly, I applied a large amount of hot
glue onto the entire Styrofoam board and stuck it onto the fiberboard. An
important tip when gluing Styrofoam is to use a low-temperature hot glue gun
in order to avoid burning and melting the Styrofoam, which actually happened in my case. To make sure the mold is firmly attached onto the fiberboard,
I applied hot glue from the outside. This way I'll prevent the water from the
concrete from leaking. Before making the concrete mix it's a good idea to use a
release agent that will make removing the concrete from the mold after it has
cured very easy. So I spread cooking oil all over the surface with a brush,
making sure I don't miss a spot. Now I can move on to the concrete mix. Into a
bucket I'm mixing 1 part sand and 1 part cement, and gradually adding water.
The consistency should be pretty close to the one shown in the video. Then I am
pouring the concrete into the mold. The aluminum pipes need to make a strong connection between two concrete parts, so I'm using my fingers to fill them inside
with concrete. Lastly, I'm vibrating the mold to release
any air bubbles and allow the mix to settle in the voids of the mold. Now I'm
done with the concrete, so I'll leave it to cure at least 48 hours. Once it has
cured, I can remove the mold. Using a utility knife makes the process of
removing the mold much easier and faster. The cooking oil helped a lot, and the
Styrofoam came off very easy, which is awesome. Next, I need to sand the concrete form with 220 grit sandpaper in order to remove the dust and to make its surface
nice and smooth. Then I wiped the dust off of the surface. So, at this point I'm
pretty much done with the concrete. This means that it's time to make the wooden
base for which I chose a beech wood. In order to be able to make all the cuts, I
need to mark all the dimensions. You can find all the dimensions down in the
description box. There you can also find links to the tools and the materials
that I'm using in this project. Also, I want to remind you to subscribe to my
channel if you haven't already! Anyhow, in the middle of the base I need to remove
1 centimeter of the thickness of the wood, and there I'll actually place the
concrete form. For that purpose I'll use a router, but I don't have a plunge
router base, so I came up with a simple solution that worked great. I drew all
the lines and clamped some scrap pieces of wood onto the board, which will serve
as guides for the router. Then, onto the drill I inserted a 15 millimeters
Forstner bit and drilled a hole 10 millimeters deep. This hole will be a
starting point for the router. After that, I placed the router into the
hole, and started routing the section out. This time I wasn't able to install the
vacuum cleaner onto the router, so I covered everything in dust. Anyway, this
turned out to be a pretty good way of removing the extra thickness of the wood.
Next, I need to chisel out the corners to make right angles. Before cutting the base to
its final size, I placed the concrete form inside to check if it is a snug fit.
Everything is okay, so I can finally cut the base to size on my table saw. If you
are not able to make such base, you can get creative and do something different
that will look awesome as well. Once I'm done cutting it's time to hand send the
surface with 120 grit sandpaper, and then moved on to 220 to give it a smooth
finish. The last step is to apply finish onto both, the concrete and the wood. I
sealed the concrete form with a transparent spray paint with satin
finish. One coat is quite enough to protect the concrete. Onto the wood I
applied 1 coat of clear finish as well. This way I'll protect the wood and bring
out the wood grain at the same time. Once the base has dried, I can add
self-adhesive cabinet bumpers on the bottom in order to protect the surface
where it will be placed on. Now I can place the candle holder onto the base.
What's left to do is to place the tea light candles into the holes, and enjoy
the beautiful atmosphere they are creating. Thank you so much for watching! This was a really interesting and fun process of creating such project, and I
hope you like it. If you do, don't forget to hit the like button, share and
subscribe to my channel! Bye and see you next time!