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DIY Concrete Candle Holders From Plastic Bottles

Make these easy DIY concrete candle holders using plastic bottles – the results are kind of amazing . . . I love my new modern decor!

DIY Concrete Candle Holders From Plastic Bottles

In my DIY concrete project roundup, I told you that my business partner wanted to do a home decor project with the stuff, and he finally completed his project. I present to you these cement candle holders made with Quikrete and plastic bottles (among a few other supplies).

He had a great time with them, and I’m having an even more fun time sharing his first project. If you’re interested in crafting with concrete, these candle holders are a great place to start.

They look so unique and we’ve gotten so many comments on them . . . plus they are made using recycled bottles, which is awesome. Here’s how they were made.

Supplies to make concrete candle holders

Concrete Candle Holders

Gather These Supplies

  • Quikrete
  • Recycled bottles – any size and shape as long as the mouth is wide enough to fit a candle
  • Bucket
  • Sifter
  • Candles
  • Scissors
  • Small saw
  • Razor blade
  • Cooking spray
  • Small plastic container
  • Wood shims (optional)
Removing labels from plastic bottles

Remove the labels from the bottles if they are thick, and rinse out the insides and let air dry. Just clean them up a little bit.

Concrete being sifted through a colander

You’ll want to sort the bigger stones out of the concrete, so do that using the sifter (aka, the colander). Steve used wood shims to support the sifter over the bucket, but you might not need those depending on the size of your bucket and sifter.

Fine particles of concrete at the bottom of a bucket

You’ll be left with the more fine particles of concrete in the bucket, and you can put the rocks back in the bag or throw them into your garden.

Spraying cooking spray at the end of a wax candle

Spray the candles with cooking spray at the ends to get them ready – you’ll see why in a minute.

Pouring concrete into a plastic bottle

Mix the concrete according to package instructions (you might need to add a little more water) in a small plastic container (Steve used an old Crystal Light container) and pour into the bottles.

Leave a little room at the top. Also when you are done filling the plastic bottles, wash out the Crystal Light container immediately with your hose to save it for another craft project!

DIY Concrete Candle Holders

Stick the candles in the top and let the bottles dry overnight in a safe place.

IMG_0690

The next day the tops will look dry and the bottoms will still look wet, but it’s just because the bottoms haven’t been exposed to air and aren’t FULLY dry . . . but they are dry enough.

Pull the candles out . . . and that’s why you added the cooking spray! The candles should slip out pretty easily.

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Saw the tops of the bottles to start releasing the candles.

Cutting a plastic bottle with a razor blade

Carefully use a razor blade or box cutter down the side to further release the bottle – don’t dig in TOO deeply or you’ll mark the concrete.

Removing the plastic bottle from a concrete candle holder

Peel away the plastic and let them dry again overnight. Optional: you can sand, but we didn’t need to. They look amazing:

DIY concrete candle sticks made from plastic bottles

These concrete candle holders are one of our FAVORITE projects ever! But I’m not done . . . I did something fun with one of them.

Adding Frog Tape to a cement candle holder

I added scalloped Frog Tape.

Painting a concrete candle holder

And slapped some Martha Stewart paint on it (a few layers) and then removed the tape and let dry.

Make a concrete candlestick from a plastic bottle

This gives you a bit of a different look – the metallic paint and concrete look so good together, don’t you think? I love these DIY concrete candle holders so much!

Yield: 3 candle holders

Concrete Candle Holders

DIY concrete candle sticks made from plastic bottles

Learn how to make cement candle holders using plastic bottles! These are such a unique home decor project.

Prep Time 15 minutes
Active Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Dry Time 12 hours
Total Time 13 hours 45 minutes
Difficulty Easy
Estimated Cost $5

Materials

  • Quikrete
  • Recycled bottles - any size and shape as long as the mouth is wide enough to fit a candle
  • Candles
  • Cooking spray
  • Small plastic container
  • Wood shims (optional)

Tools

  • Bucket
  • Sifter
  • Scissors
  • Small saw
  • Razor blade

Instructions

  1. Remove any thick labels from the bottles. Rinse out and let dry.
  2. Use a sifter (colander) to sort the bigger stones out of the concrete, into the bucket - you want use use fine particles. Put the rocks back into the bag or throw them into your garden.
  3. Spray the candles with cooking spray at the ends to get them ready.
  4. Mix the concrete according to package instructions in a small plastic container and pour into the bottles. Leave a little room at the top.
  5. Stick the candles in the top and let the bottles dry overnight in a safe place.
  6. Pull the candles out. The candles should slip out pretty easily due to the cooking spray.
  7. Saw the tops of the bottles to start releasing the candles.
  8. Carefully use a razor blade or box cutter down the side to further release the bottle.
  9. Peel away the plastic and let them dry again overnight before displaying.

Did you make this project?

Please leave a rating or share a photo on Pinterest!


If you like these cement candle holders, I’d love for you to check out these other DIY projects we’ve done:

mustLOLO

Thursday 6th of November 2014

Hi Amy your bottle candle holders look nice :) especially for this time of the year (winter) when it gets dark early.

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