Concrete Solar Lamp

I just finished sending in my entry for the Quikrete 1 Bag Wonder contest.  I really enjoyed the process and because of this project I now have several other ideas.

I chose to make a solar lamp using only concrete, a solar light, and items found around the house to make the molds to form the concrete lamp.  It took me a while to find something to form the shade but when I saw the old stainless bowl in the barn loft the light bulb went off and I was now ready to mix some concrete.

The stainless bowl was perfect but I needed to make a hole in the top of the shade to hold the top portion of the solar light.  I used a small paint can hot glued to what would be the top of the lamp.

The mix that I made was stiffer than normal because I needed it to stand on it's own after a short period of time.  I kept pressing and forming until it set up.  I left it alone until the next day when I flipped the bowl over and tapped with a small hammer.  It easily came out because I sprayed the inside of the bowl with coconut oil.

I sanded the edges of the shade before the concrete was fully hard.  The sand paper I used was a medium grit and just took off the sharp edges and slightly rounded the edges, too.

I used PVC pipe to form the body of the lamp and used old throw away food containers to form the two rounds.  The rounds were brushed while under running water to expose the aggregate so that the lamp had two textures.  The rounds were heavily textured and the body of the lamp was very smooth.

Assembly went as followed.....bottom of lamp was a round, then the body of the lamp, then the round with a hole in the center, followed by the bottom portion of the solar light including the stake, then the shade set on top of the glass portion of the shade, and finally the top of the solar light was set into the center hole of the shade.  Eventually the pieces will be glued together with landscaping adhesive.  The lamp is steady without it but better safe than sorry.  I would hate for someone to accidentally bump into it and have it fall on a toe.

 The total cost for this project was $8.59.  $3.10 for 60lb bag of Quikrete + $5.49 for solar light.

The molds were all made out of items I already own.  I also think that I have enough Quikrete left to make a second lamp. 

Now on to the next project.

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Upcoming Projects and Deadlines

I have three projects that are in the works.  Two have deadlines on June 4th or the June 21st.  In between those deadlines we will build a peaked roof on the semi flat roof that was once an open back porch and later closed in.  This is what will be our game room but first the flat roof has got to go away.

So what are the three projects? 

June 4th deadline is for the Quikrete One Bag Wonder Contest.  I will be making.....oh wait...it's a secret. Sorry.  I'll spill the beans on June 4th.

The June 21st deadline is for a project that will adorn the south side of our barn.  More on that on June 21st.  Sorry.

The third project is for the back of our house and will make it debut once the roof and cedar shingles are installed and painted.  It is similar to the project for the barn so I guess that is a secret, too.  Sorry.

But I can tell you that the barn and back of the house projects are being made out of the wood that we removed from the steel beam in the ceiling of the game room.  The wood looked like this when we removed it.

This is what it looks like now that I have removed the paint with a heat gun and R has lightly sanded it.  Guess what?  It's Douglas Fir.  Perfect wood for outdoor projects.  And so pretty, too.

The weather has not been cooperating on the roof project but I guess that is why they invented tarps. Also, no biggie if water comes in because this room will be gutted to the studs and the old pine floor which had been patched with plywood will be replaced with oak that matches the rest of the house.

And in between all of this.....

 I need to put a top coat of paint on the new flower boxes so that I can fill them with dirt and plant the petunias that I bought last week.

Find the black and tan outdoor rug in the barn loft and put it down on the deck.

Pick up all the piles of grass clippings that are everywhere.

Install a mast head on the back of the house and relocate the wire going to the garden shed.  Eventually that will go away when we run the wire underground.

Finish demolishing the in the ground pool.  I am surprised that it hasn't just collapsed.  It is made of red brick with concrete troweled on it.  Amazing that it ever held even one drop of water. Should be easy peasy but we want to salvage some of the slate on the apron and also the concrete coping around the edge.

And finally we need to fix the chain link fence on the north side.  One of the posts is bent and the top bar has broken the connector.  R picked up a couple of sleeves to fix the top rail.  We might try some heat on the bent post and then use the truck to pull it into position.  

So it looks like we are going to be busy all summer.

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