This may be a dumb idea, but I wonder if you could use a plastic garden pot to mold around to get the wanted depth and width and then remove it before it dries?
How to make papercrete containers.
That's a great Idea I think.
Sidney
I wondered if it's runny or semi-stiff when you have the newspaper and cement mix. I might want to try and make a basket like weaving pattern on the outside. Do...able?
Ummmm
Linda
Linda,
My mixture was semi-stiff, it needed to be able to stay put in a vertical position. If you have something with a weave like patern you could wrap around the inside of your mold I dont see why it wouldnt work...you gave me an idea I'll have to try it on my next creation!
Beaker, Tomtom's directions call for using the inside of your mold or pot to hold the paper in place. I'm not sure how it would work on the outside.
You probably will need to fill in the spacing on the outside of the basket so it doesn't go through it. Maybe Hot-glue, wood puddy? Something to play around with and see what happens ;)
Linda
What's the finished weight on these containers?
The pot shown on march the 5th 2005 was made using a pot inside and filling in between it and the outside pot lined with newspaper. Then I removed the pot befor it dried. You can also just leave the pot inside.
Now you tell us!
xxxxxx, Carrie
i'm with liila above: i do not understand steps 8, 9 & 10, and i've re-read the directions & discussion many times.
by step 7 you have a "mold bowl" with a stick across the bottom lined with a plastic sheet. some cement/paper mix has been pushed into the bottom of the "mold bowl" on top of the plastic.
here is where i stop comprehending ... i don't understand the purpose of the twisted newspaper. i don't understand how the container walls are formed. is the cement/paper mixture applied to the inside of the twisted newspaper? or does the twisted newspaper act as a brace to hold the walls against the plastic/"mold bowl" until it hardens?
help!
thank you!
The twisted paper is what gives texture and shape to the outside of the pot. If you look at Tomtoms first picture, you will see the "grooves" on the outside, that is where the paper was. If you did not use the rolled up newspaper, you would just have a flat surface.
So you put your slurry on the bottom to form your base, then you put in your newspaper "sticks" around the sides where you want voids or grooves in the walls and then you start pressing in your cement/paper slurry until the entire inside walls are coated and you no longer see your newspaper sticks. When your pot is dry & you unmold it, you remove the plastic lining and the newspaper sticks off the outside of the pot and TADA! Grooves & texture! :~)
I saw this same project done on an HGTV show I watched a while back but they did not use the newspaper sticks. I really prefer the sticks because it looked so flat without them.
Hope that helps! :~)
Donna
I made my pot inside a styrofoam cooler. I placed the sticks on the floor of the cooler (these give a drainage tunnel for water) and then put in the plastic bag.
After this I took my cement/paper mixture and placed it in the bottom of the cooler. After making my drainage holes, I took my twisted paper and placed around the perimeter of the cement base.
As I added each round of twisted papers, I built up my cement walls. All of my work was done on the inside of my mold.
It is a lot easier to do than to read. I wasn't fully understanding the directions either but love the look of my pot and am planning on making a taller one. I think my walls are thicker than Tomtoms and so my pot ended up being shorter than I had intended.
I have my newspaper ready to go for tomorrow! We are supposed to get a big snowstorm here so I am ready!
Yippee! Now we wait to see your finished pot!
I have been following this thread with great interest. I would like to understand the technique and use the process in a bonsai club workshop. Neither did I understand the directions completely and still have a question. Are the paper sticks stacked on the slurry & then saturated with a cement slurry? If so, will there be exposed paper between the inside of the created container and the plastic liner? Thank you.
Al
Al, my slurry was rather stiff so did not saturate the twisted paper sticks. If I understand your question correctly, the answer is yes, the paper is exposed between the plastic liner and the formed wall of your new pot. You will be building up the slurry so you will not have any exposed paper on the inside of your pot. The twisted newspapers (I prefer to think of them as ropes) are the actual mold for your pot, the cooler or large pot is just there to give them something to lean against so they don't fall to the outside while building the walls and the pot dries. I did need to keep making sure I wasn't pressing my slurry on to vigorously seperating the paper ropes.
This is so much harder to explain than to do. To quote Tomtom "JUST DO IT! You WILL get the idea as you go through the steps to the completed project!
So here is a very simplified set of directions:
1 place drainage sticks in bottom of pot (cooler,etc.)
2 place plastic bag in pot and smooth out as best as possible
3 place slurry in bottom and smooth out to form bottom
4 make drainage holes
5 start building walls on the slurry with the paper ropes
6 build up the walls with slurry as you form them
7 build up as tall as you want or til you run out of slurry
8 let dry for at least 24 hours (I let mine be for 48 in the closed cooler)
9 remove from mold by lifting out the plastic bag carefully and remove paper ropes which will be on the outside of your new pot.
10 let cure
Here is a pic of my paper ropes: about 30 inches long on average
and here is a pic of the paper ropes against the wall of the mold with the slurry built up on the inside. It is sort of like building a sandwich. the mold and plastic bag are a slice of bread the paper is the filling and the slurry is the second slice of bread. :-)
Have fun now! and I'm waiting for more pictures of new papercrete pots!
Sue
Tom tom got a question. How is you get the form on the first photo to be so large on the distance between the folds. Using the rope twisted it makes the folds small. Do you just add more sheets in the twist to make in more exzagerated.
I'm betting Roger that this is perfect for someone like me. I can just see thick/thin 'ropes' with wads shoved in the thin spots. LOL So 'natural' looking. Yours are so neat!
And... where did TomTom go? Perhaps he is immersed in one of his works of art?!
TomTom is a she, and I think I saw some new container plantings posted somewhere around here recently. She sure does a beautiful job with them, doesn't she?
llilyfan,
THANK YOU for posting a picture that speaks A THOUSAND WORDS! I was sooooooooooooo TOTALLY confused, but I get it now. This is really just a simple, gradeschool, Papier Mache' project! I couldn't figure out where the twisted paper went, but like I said....
One more thing. What keeps the twisties from getting hardened into the cement slurry as you build up the "walls" of the container? And, can you wad the paper twisties up not-so-precisely to create varying texture?
yes, you can wad if you want to! I really don't know what keeps the paper ropes from sticking in the papercrete, maybe the oils in the ink? You might have some paper stuck in the wadding technique, but I'm sure it will 'disappear' when exposed to some gentle rains or washing.
Yes! a very simple project to do, it really does explain itself as you do it, Thank you for your kind words though, I'm glad I could help.
Here is one I made with bubblewrap instead of newspaper....different LOL!
Good idea there llilyfan,I sure like the looks of that one..!
This message was edited Apr 3, 2007 8:28 AM
Well, its different anyway! I walked across the bubblewrap before using it because I wanted some 'inconsistency' in the pattern. Nothing ventured............nothing gained I still have a couple of things I want to try yet.
I'm anxious to try this, thank you so much Tomtom. I have been working with concrete for months making garden mirrors with plant fossils. I think it would be really interesting to line the "bowl" with vegetation, layers of plant material to create a fossile imprint instead of the newspaper ---- or as well as the newspaper. First lay the plant material then the newspaper for the great textured effect . I really will be experimenting with this.
Aguane,
Be sure to show us what you get!
(too chicken to try it yet)
xxxxx, Carrie
First attempt at a container.... I'm Happy with it. Sedum will grow in no time. I used a shoe box for the form. Pressed plant material is fountain grass and rosemary.
Looks great Aguane! I will need to come up with something like this for my Coleus I want to plant but dont have anything in mind to use!
Wow! I really like it... I am getting my nerve up!
I love it! Really a great job! So happy to see others trying this project.
Very nice...
Great ideas, shoeboxes, bubble wrap! I especially like the idea that it doesn't have to be bowl shaped! Maybe someday....
xxx, Carrie
It looks like it might have a lot of potential for making those large, expensive type of outdoor containers - like the terra cotta ones or maybe a kind of greeny color - I would imagine any kind of texture or pattern could be impressed on the outside, perhaps even mosaic? Hmmmm...(wheels starting to turn...)
Sharon
Watch those wheels, Sharon! I run over my own toes, the children, etc.
xxx, Carrie
Hi everyone. Newbie here. I am sooo glad I found this thread! I'm going to a cementitious/mosaic workshop this weekend in Wisconsin and I'm going to ask if they know this process. Can't wait for school to be over so I can add this to my other concrete projects. More pictures please. Let's keep this going. Most of the gardeners I know here in Chi Town aren't very adventurous. :(
Thanks for bumping this back up. I have been meaning to try this for months. Even got all the materials went as far as soaking the newspaper but something can up and I never followed through.
Now I am determined to try this. I love the look and it looks like fun.
Thanks Linda
tomtom, thanks so much for your contribution. I am going to try it, even though I am not the most handy person around. wish me luck!
Before I get started, I was wondering how these planters drain....
you poke holes where you want them in the wet cement.