Flower Pen Stand With Butterfly From Concrete

Creative work is accompanied by the accumulation of a certain number of pens, pencils, brushes and so on. All this is totally necessary for a creative person. To write down the idea of a new project that came, as always, all of a sudden, or the solution that would bring this idea to life, for drawing... in general, for many important creative processes. And all these things, of course, should be at hand. Not a minute of creative time should be lost in the search for these important things. If any of these situations apply to you at least a little, then you need a pen (pencil/brush/and so on) stand. But if you are a creative person (and you are, of course, a creative person, since you are on this site) and love unique things, if you want to have not just a pen stand, but a pen stand that decorates your desktop and creates a sunny mood, then this Flower Pen Stand with Butterfly from Concrete is right for you.

The Flower Pen Stand with Butterfly from Concrete is made in the form of a flower with leaves and a butterfly:

the petals create a bowl in which you can put pens, pencils, brushes, etc.;

it is convenient to store small objects in the leaves (erasers, paper clips, etc.);

stickers with important information can be glued to the petals and, in general,

this Flower Pen Stand with Butterfly from Concrete will decorate your desktop at any time of the year with its flowering (paint it in your favorite color and enjoy).

All this is made of cement and without complicated molds. So if you don’t have a big budget, appreciate environmental friendliness and / or you just liked my Flower Pen Stand with Butterfly from Concrete, then this Instructable is for you!

P.S. I'm tired of fighting with sites that steal my instructables regardless of the license (which is indicated in the upper left corner). Sorry but I decided to add attribution to my photos. I know it looks a little annoying, but it annoys me even more to see my works under someone else's authorship or for sale.

cement (preferably high strength);

sand (fine, without stones);

water without impurities;

acrylic paints;

primer;

glue;

acrylic varnish;

thick fabric (jeans);

a piece of reinforcing mesh, 8 × 8 cm (size depends on the size of the bottom of the bowl);

wire;

felt pads.

Tools:

Film (food film, film with bubbles);

bowl - mold for the base: bottom diameter 9 cm, top diameter 15,5 cm, height minimum 4 cm (I used ceramic bowl);

plastic bottle with a curved shape for the formation of petal molds (shampoo for example);

bottle with more oval shape to make leaf shapes (glass bottle for example);

plastic bottle with a round shape;

sandpaper;

strong rope, 70 cm;

elastic round string (for fixing the petals);

sprayer;

brush (with a long handle);

trays (or just a hard, flat surface);

paper / cardboard;

scissors;

knife / blade;

nippers (to cut the reinforcing mesh);

pliers;

palette knife;

pen / pencil;

trowel for mixing cement, sand;

2 big leaves;

rubber gloves;

containers for concrete, paints.

For this step you need: paper / cardboard, pen / pencil, ruler, scissors, fabric, wire.

Draw: petal - length 15.5 cm, width 6 cm; leaf - length 9.5 cm, width 8 cm; butterfly - length 8 cm, width 9.3 cm (see photos).

Cut out of paper / cardboard patterns of petal, leaf and butterfly. Then using the patterns, cut out 7 petals, 4 leaves and 1 butterfly out of fabric (do not forget to cut the holes in the wings of a butterfly).

Make a body with antennae for the butterfly from wire and attach it to the fabric (photo).

You need: sand, water, bottles with a curved shape, food film, trays or a solid flat surface, rubber gloves.

Moisten the sand and lay it on a flat hard surface, cover it with food film and press down using a plastic curvy bottle to make the molds for the petals. Straighten the food film in the form so that the wrinkles are like streaks.

Also make molds for the leaves and butterfly.

In total, you need to make 7 molds for the petals, 4 molds for the leaves, 1 mold for the butterfly.

You need: fabric petals, leaves, butterfly and molds made from in the previous steps, cement, sand, water, food film, palette knife, sandpaper, rubber gloves.

Make the concrete: 1 part of cement + 1 parts of sand + water to get a not so thick solution.

Dip each fabric petal into the concrete and lay them neatly and precisely in the sand molds. If the molds are narrow, then first pour a spoonful of concrete into each, and then lay a fabric petal dunk in the concrete. Cover with food film so the drying is slow.

Make the same with leaves and butterfly using a palette knife to make a pattern.

When the concrete hardens a little, cut off the excess with a knife or blade and make holes on the wings of the butterfly.

2-3 times every 6-8 hours spray some water on the concrete petals leaves, butterfly and cover with film again. This will make them stronger. Wait for all the parts to dry well.

Take out the petals, leaves and butterfly from the molds. Ground edges and irregularities with sandpaper. Wash off cement dust with water.

You need: concrete petals, made in the previous step, bowl, round plastic bottle, piece of reinforcing mesh, rope, food film, cement, sand, water, elastic string, leaves, rubber gloves.

Using wire cutters, make a circle with a diameter of 8 cm from a piece of reinforcing mesh. Tie ropes to it.

At the bottom of the bowl lay a film, then the leaf face down (on the seamy side of the leaf the veins are more distinct). The middle of the leaf can be cut so that the bottom of the base is flat.

Arrange the petals evenly around the round plastic bottle and fasten them with an elastic band.

Prepare the concrete as in the previous steps.

Pour a layer of concrete, 1.5 cm thick, in the bowl, then lay the reinforcing mesh with threads, pour another layer of concrete, 1.5 cm thick - this is the base of the pen stand.

Put the petals with the bottle in the center of the bowl. Immerse the petals in the concrete base by stretching out the bottle a little. Correct the petals so that they stand evenly.

Cut out the middle of the second leaf and place it with the wrong side down so that it covers the entire base around the flower (to make a vein pattern in the visible part of the base).

Cover the flower with a film and leave to harden and dry for several days.

Remove the flower from the mold, sand irregularities.

You need: concrete leaves, butterfly and flower, made in the previous steps, concrete, rubber gloves, felt pads,

Arrange the leaves on the base around the flower (two on each sides). They should lie horizontally so that it is convenient to place small objects on them. Fix them using concrete.

To have a pattern in the center of the flower, pour some concrete and lay a film with bubbles.

Primer, paint and varnish the flower pen stand and butterfly.

Glue the butterfly to the flower and felt pads.

You need: Flower Pen Stand with Butterfly from Concrete made in the previous steps, your pens, pencils, erasers, etc.

Fill your Flower Pen Stand with Butterfly from Concrete with your pens, pencils, erasers, etc.

Enjoy your unique Flower Pen Stand with Butterfly from Concrete and keep coming up with new projects.