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Upcycle: Make Lamp Shades into Flower Pots
(with RapidSet CementAll ®)
© Stephie McCarthy
— watch the video here —
We used thrifted lampshades to make marvelous cement flower pots.
The shape reminds us of European-style terracotta.
Types of Lamp Shades to Use
If you'd like to try this project, we'd recommend looking for shades that are made of fabric so liquid cement can penetrate the fibers, making your planter strong.
So many shapes and styles to choose from on the 2nd-hand market!
You can see a metal fitter in the center of this shade above. We filled that end of the shade with cement and let the metal fitter be the reinforcement. (The hole was perfect for drainage).
Optional: Decorate Your Flower Pots with Rope Trim
To add more detail to these shades, we glued lengths of clothes line around the edges to create decorative ridges.
Check the most recent price of 50 ft. clothes line rope here —
— check out our YouTube Channel for amazing projects! —
Tools to have on Hand
• a dowel or plastic rod (like a pen) to make drainage hole
• lubricant (we used petroleum jelly)
• 2" nylon craft brush
• dish washing soap (we used Dawn)
• water mister
• stirring sticks
• disposable gloves
How we the formed drainage holes
A bonus of having a round metal fitter was that it held a plastic pen in place so that we could create a drainage hole. We coated the pen with petroleum jelly so that it would be easy to remove once the cement hardened.
Brushes we used
We used ordinary nylon craft brushes (2" width) to smooth our cement. They can be cleaned and reused, but we simply tossed ours in the trash afterward.
Keeping cement wet with a water mister
CementAll will begin to harden very quickly, so we work with very small batches and occasionally spray the surface with water — and stir — to keep it workable.
Mixing RapidSet CementAll® for DIY Projects
Available at big-box hardware stores.
how to make cement slurry
• 2 cups water
• 1/4 tsp dish washing soap
• about 4 cups of CementAll
— visit our tutorial channel —
how to make cement 'clay'
When the fabric of the lamp shade has hardened, we will build the interior of the flower pot with a clay-like mixture.
How to Apply Cement to a Fabric Lamp Shade
Step 1: Place the lamp shade with wide end facing down on a waterproof surface.
Step 2: Wet the fabric inside and out with water. We used a clean paint brush.
(if you forget this step, don't worry, the project will still work)
Building the inside of the flower pots
When dry, a clay-like cement mixture is applied to the inside of the lamp shades. A 1/4 tsp. of dish soap makes the cement easy to shape.
Clay CementAll® recipe
work surface for cement crafts
To ensure a smooth bottom to the flower pots, we place the shades on the smooth side of fridge liners before apply more cement.
This type of plastic is so useful in a crafts room, check the current price for them here.
drainage hole
Plan for drainage in advance. We used a lubricated plastic pen held in place by the lamp hardware. Alternatively, you can push a wooden dowel through the wet cement bottom, after shaping it.
shaping the interior
Step 1: Drop the cement into the bottom of the shade around the drainage spacer
Let your pots dry for a few days and finish in your favorite colors and effects. We finished ours to resemble antique terracotta.
— more on finishing techniques in the video —
Check out our video to see how we blended watered-down paint, a cotton applique, artist's chalk, and linseed oil to create a water-resistant, durable and very rustic terracotta finish on our new flower pots.
Decorate a Concrete Bird Bath with Lace
Cotton crochet doilies and paint make weather resistant decorations.
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