Sage and I love sharing the ugly side of DIY. For one, it is super easy content to produce (messing things up is our natural state). But mainly we think it is super important to be as open and honest about the things that don’t go well as the things that turn out great that we’re really proud of (like Sage’s amazing coffee table – if you missed that post on Monday, go check it out NOW).
We’ve shared a lot of things that didn’t quite go as planned, from my recent hiccups along the way in building a table, to Sage’s racking issue in stage 1 of her table, to some of the less-picture-perfect parts of our homes, to things that went wrong with larger projects. But ever since Sage’s hilarious tutorial on how (not) to install a toilet, we haven’t shared something that was just all wrong from start to finish.
So, today, I’ve got a very sad story for you, about a craft I was really excited about doing that just totally didn’t work out. And we’d love to hear whether this is the sort of thing you’d like to read occasionally. Are you a terrible person who likes to laugh at our failures? Is it motivating/fun to see how others struggle with projects and crafts? Trust me, we’re plenty full of ourselves (for some of the reasons why, see this, this, and this) so it won’t do our egos much harm to meditate on failure now and again.
But onto the task craft at hand. As you know, I’ve been getting pretty into cement projects, with some success.
I had to put that in. It is the ONE pretty picture that I get to use in this post!
When I was brainstorming ideas for further projects with this fun material, I had an idea to make a cement easel with a wooden lip that could sit up on a desk or bookshelf and hold a photo or small piece of artwork. It would be sort of like this cement iPad stand, except thinner and with wood instead of glass.
I was very pleased with myself about this brilliant idea. Problem was, I didn’t know anything about (a) physics or (b) cement.
I started by making a mold out of cardboard boxes and packing tape.
This post is NOT sponsored by Nabisco or Kelloggs. Trust me, they wouldn’t be interested.
I just cut the cardboard into shape, taped it together, and then coated the entire interior with packing tape.
This actually worked pretty well, as the packing tape formed a good slick coating on the inside which would let me release the cement easily down the line.
And, as you can see, the mold stood up just fine on its own. (In hindsight, we realize that this is because it is full of air instead of cement.)
I set up the mold on a pair of bricks, and made sure it was perfectly level. I took detailed process images so I could share my brilliance with the internet.
I filled it in with cement, carefully inserted the wooden lip (on which the artwork could sit) and let it dry.
I already had visions of how I would use my awesome new picture stand. So once it dried, I eagerly took it out of the mold to try it out.
It sprung free from the mold just fine… but the first problem had already appeared. Can you see the cracks?
If you can’t see them, don’t worry, this next image will make it a little more clear.
Yeah, it was not structurally sound and fell apart pretty much immediately.
I’m not 100% sure why. It could have been that I took it out too early (although it seemed plenty dry at the time). There also could have just been too little cement on either side of the wooden ledge so that it couldn’t hold together. It also may have been caused by the wood absorbing water and expanding while the cement hardened, causing the little fractures that eventually made it fall apart completely.
But don’t get too bummed out by that bad luck. Even if the material had held together, it still would have been a failure. Because science.
Or, because of basic common sense that a tiny wedge like that wouldn’t be enough to hold up an entire block of cement.
So, in a lot of ways, this project was a total failure. ZERO easels were made that day by me.
I do think I’ll try this project again someday. Based on what I learned through these failures, I have a few ideas:
Give up because picture easels are stupid and nobody likes them anyway- Make the wedge larger
- Make a back support using a bracket of another material instead of a cement wedge, so that it can be long and thin
- Use a different material like metal or plexiglas for the ledge
- Made the ledge out of a row of dowels, so that there is more cement material to hold the whole thing together
What do you think? Any advice or ideas for how I can overcome these issues?
(Sharing at Think and Make Thursday, Idea Box Thursday, Two Uses Tuesday, Tip Me Tuesday, Whimsy Wednesday, and Create It Thursday)
I’ve made the same mistake when making my own garden pavers. It also needs some mesh for strength, such as hardware cloth. That might help. I gave up on the pavers. It just seem worth the trouble for redo.
Thanks for the honesty! Maybe things will go better next time!
Mesh is a great idea! Or maybe chicken wire? Thanks 🙂
I guess that explains the Disaster part of your blog name lol! oh well! That would have totally happened to me im sure.
Oh, we have plenty of disaster. Thanks, Ellen!
your idea that the wood expanded causing the crack sounds right; what if you somehow created a space/void in the cement mold to insert the wood later? and does the back of the stand have to be so high or thick to still function as an easel? don’t give up on it, though…I’m sure you can figure it out
I could definitely make it a shorter stand! That would be easier on the wedge for sure. I was being lazy and using the size of the graham cracker box, haha.
I loved the detailed photos of the disaster. More disasters, please!
Thanks Bonnie! That will be easy to deliver 🙂
Posting the “disaster” items is refreshing………heaven knows we all have goof-ups…….it’s informative/entertaining/real. Keep giving us your challenges – as well as your successes!
Thanks, Deanna! Glad you feel that way! (I just wasn’t sure if it would be dull…)
You’re using the wrong kind of cement. Aren’t you using hydraulic cement (or plug-stop?) That’s an expanding cement for filling holes not wider than a couple inches. It doesn’t have any structural stability. I bet if you tried again with regular old quickcrete you would have better luck.
Oh, that very well could be it! I am using a quick-dry cement – I’m not sure if it is expanding, but it is certainly not the standard stuff. I actually just got a bag of regular-ol-cement for another project (coming soon :)) so maybe I’ll give it a try with that! Thanks Mary!
Concrete actually doesn’t dry; it cures, and it needs to be wet to do this properly and reach full strength. I started playing with concrete this summer (regular old $3/bag stuff from Home Depot) and in my impatience broke the first two pieces I made because it seemed dryish after a day. I figured it was cement, so how delicate could it be? We both know the answer to that.
I have had a ton of success filling a storage tote with water and letting my bowls cure for a week, completely submerged. I’ve made about 10 things and nothing else has cracked with this method. Once your thing is stable and not mushy anymore, like a few hours depending on humidity and temp, put it in water or a plastic bag after spraying it down and forget it for a few days to a week. Adding wood might require more experimentation, but I think you’ll figure something out.
This was attempt 2 after I let it soak for a week: http://restorationhardwork.blogspot.com/2015/06/concrete-projects-and-this-years.html 🙂
Wow, your bowl turned out really well! Great point on the curing vs. drying. I NEVER would have thought to submerge it in water. I’ve heard of “misting” cement with a spray bottle if if the weather is particularly hot and dry (like when pouring a cement floor) but not totally soaking it. I just might have to try that!
Thanks :)!! I read about the misting method and decided it sounded like too much of a hassle. Figured there had to be a lazy girl method. I hope you do try it again! I think the easel idea is really fun and creative. I wonder if you could use a piece of melamine shelving or something to mold the slot for the wood shelf to slide into, but let it cure without the wood in place. Then maybe glue the wood shelf in place once everything’s all dried out. I had great results using a ton of Vaseline as a release agent, btw.
Thanks for the vaseline tip! I have used oil before and haven’t found it to be super effective, although it sometimes works OK. I’ll definitely try again!
It’s tough, because physics and cement are both difficult topics to master. I actually won the physics award my senior year of high school (true story!), but I still can’t help you because that was kind of a fluke. I was never good at physics. I think I was just the only one who studied for the tests.
LOL, well if my easel is any indication you must be better than me! Also, can we all agree that they should have taught a class on cement in school? That would have had many real-life implications for me.