Earthy, attractive, and durable, river rock centerpieces add texture, color and dimension to your decor.
River Rock centerpiece bowls are versatile in that they allow you to change for the seasons by changing what you add to the bowl. While you are making your bowl, think about what you would put in it for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter and even birthdays.
Let's get started.
Materials Needed:
- Small smooth river rocks
- Mixing bowl, about 12" in diameter
- Plastic mixing container (disposable) with no lip on the edge
- Wooden spoon (disposable)
- Aluminum foil
- Hot glue gun and glue sticks
- Large Ziploc plastic bag
- Scissors
- Rubber gloves
- Concrete mix (fine mix)
- Water
- Sponge
- Paint brush
- Polyeurathane
Preparation
- Cover your work space thoroughly with newspaper.
- Turn your mixing bowl upside down and cover the entire surface with aluminum foil. If you are not sure you have covered the bowl well, add more foil. You do not want anything to touch the actual bowl.
Creating your Centerpiece
- Hot glue each of the river rocks individually to the foil surface on the bowl, leaving space between the rocks.
- Always wear rubber gloves when working with concrete.
- Mix up a batch of concrete. Mix a small batch. You can always make more. You don't want to make so much that it begins hardening while you are working with it.
- Fill your Ziploc bag with concrete. Snip off the end of the bag. It will be like a frosting bag used to decorate cakes. That is just how you will use it.
- Put the cut tip into the spaces between the rocks and squeeze the Ziploc bag. Move around the entire bowl making sure all of the spaces are filled well.
- Allow to sit for about fifteen minutes.
- Lay a ring of small river rocks around the base of the bowl.
- Mix up a batch of concrete and lay a thick layer of concrete over the whole bowl making sure to make it thick enough to hide the ring of rocks you laid down.
- Beginning at the bottom, push river rocks into the cement leaving spaces between to show the mortar. Make sure they are securely in the concrete so they don't fall out when the concrete is hardened.
- Fill the whole surface.
- Using a wet sponge, wipe down all of the rocks for excess concrete.
- Set aside and allow to dry at least 24 hours.
Finishing your Centerpiece
- Carefully turn the bowl over.
- Remove the inner original bowl from inside.
- Remove all evidence of foil.
- Each rock will have a dab of hot glue. Carefully pull off each piece of hot glue.
- Using your wet sponge, wipe out the inside of the bowl. If there is any concrete on the rocks where it shouldn't be, try wiping it away with your sponge.
- Apply polyeurathane to the inside of the bowl in a thin coat. If you apply a heavy coat it will all pool in the bottom of your bow'. Once it dries, add another thin coat. You can repeat this step as many times as desired or you can stop at two coats.
- However many coats you applied to the inside, you will now need to apply to the outside. Once again, apply thin coats, allowing then to dry in between.
The copyright of the article Create Your Own River Rock Bowl in Crafts is owned by Mary Welling-Bonney. Permission to republish Create Your Own River Rock Bowl in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
