Do you love the raw beauty of cement? Thinking of making some neat items out of it? Well, that sounds like me! I love the texture of cement and for ages I’ve been planning to make some cement items for home decor. But somehow I never got to it…

Mixing cement and pouring it into molds seemed too messy and like I a lot of work just to make some rather small decorative pieces. First I should have made these molds, then mix the cement, pour it and wait for it to dry and hope for the best with the molds. I’ve been working with cement for our yard projects, so I’m pretty familiar with this stuff. I just hesitated with these decor projects because it was too much work.

But hey, I found a short-cut! I got my cement decor without all this hard work and you can, too!

Here’s the story. Went to a local thrift store and found this perfectly shaped round wooden tray. Loved the round shape with a little edge to it. I bought the tray for a whole $1, so it wouldn’t be a big loss if I never used it for anything. When I got home I looked at the tray again and thought that this would look perfect if it were made out of cement.

I had heard about cement spray before, but had never tried it. Since I had found this perfect piece at a steal I decided to give it a shot and got the cement effect spray. And wow! The tray looks so good now. I’m loving it!

Here’s how to do it step by step

It’s easy as 1-2-3! You really have to try this! With little effort you get amazing results.

Step 1. Wipe clean your piece + Sand off the bumps, if needed. It’s the rough cement look we’re going for here, so most likely no sanding needed.

Here’s my thrift store find. I wiped this clean and sprayed on a coat of black spray paint to make sure the flowers or the bright red would not show through the cement effect spray. But it seems that this painting step is unnecessary. The cement spray covers really well!

Step 2. Shake the cement spray can well, as instructed and apply the first coat of paint.

• Paint first from side to side and then top to bottom. That way you’ll get a more even colored surface. Always begin spraying off the surface to get an even result.
  
• The cement effect varies whether you paint closer to the surface or further from it. I varied the spraying distance to get a lively cement look.
• Allow to dry and paint again after about 20 minutes and repeat, if you need to.
• Let dry

Step 3. Spray on the clear matte paint to protect the surface. Just make sure you cover the entire surface. Good way to do that, is to paint criss-cross like you did with the cement spray. And let dry following the directions on the can.

That’s all! Your amazing cement decor is ready. So much easier to do this than working with real cement and a lot less messy. I think this looks perfect! I am so pleased with my new cement tray. Got the look I was going for, but not the weight nor the mess of the process. Very happy and I recommend 100% for you to do this, too! So easy, quick and simple!