Ever since getting back from Haven last year I have been slightly obsessed with concrete.  There were these guys there from Buddy Rhodes and they did some of the most Ah-Maz-Ing concrete work. They specialized in countertops, but some of their art pieces and furniture were so fantastic I haven’ stopped thinking about it since then.

 I have done a little (mostly utilitarian) concrete work of my own, but nothing that was just for the sake of being pretty.

Until today.

Since I have (clearly) been on a plastic Easter Egg kick this week, it would not surprise anyone to know I used the plastic eggs a mold to create concrete easter eggs:
And I am so stoked with how this project came out, that I am definitely going to work with concrete more often. I LOVE it!

The process is a little messy, but really fun. And it goes surprisingly fast.





To make my eggs I used some generic mortar mix (which is just cement plus sand) I had left over from pouring my shower pan and pre slope.  I used the Rapid Set brand (which is $13 for 55 pounds. With 55 pounds you could make 10,000 of these eggs.)

If I were going to buy concrete just for the purpose of making these, I would probably have gone with a higher grade cement since the finish would be finer (you can get a more polished look if the concrete and sand are finer.  Mortar mix has relatively large grains in it.)

I used some old plastic fast food cups I had to make my mixture (so I wouldn’t have to clean anything up, the last thing I want is to wash concrete mix down my kitchen sink!)

I just eyeballed it.  Adding enough water until the mix was the consistency of a really thick milkshake
I scooped that into both halves of the plastic egg making sure I got it completely filled (you need both sides to “squish” together when you close them so you have one solid egg at the end.

I then snapped the eggs shut, shook them (to make sure both halves were stuck together) and then allowed them to dry for a few hours.  (Since mine was quick-set concrete it went quickly.  Even though there was nowhere for the moisture to go form inside the egg, they were still hardened enough to remove the mold within an hour) 
I had to pry both halves of the egg apart with a knife and then was able to slide off the mold. I did have a few air bubbles and seams where the two halves came together.

To get a nicer finished edge I created a finishing slurry out of mortar mix (I watered it down and then filtered out the large grit with a sieve).

I smeared that slurry over the eggs to even out the surface and fill in any of the air holes.
After it was dry I sanded the eggs with a fine grit sandpaper.  Here was the result:

I LOVED them.  They are so heavy in your hand when you pick them up, but still perfectly oval and smooth. 
To give them a touch of color I added some of my leftover baker’s twine from my cross stitch eggs:I can’t wait to move on to bigger objects.  I still have about 40 pounds of mortar mix left.  It is calling my name!