It was a group effort to make my mother's 65th birthday present to come to fruition. Since I was going to be home close to her birthday, I wanted to make something I couldn't mail or normally buy. And since my mom informed me that her wall space was less and less, I went for an outdoor project.
My sister purchased the letters at Hobby Lobby. These are the hollow cardboard ones which I have also seen in different sizes at various stores.
Luckily, my brother-in-law rounded up an exacto knife to cut the front cover off.
This left a shell to put the concrete mixture.
My dad purchased the concrete mix and brought along a bucket and stir stick. The concrete had a bit of a rough rocky texture. Luckily my mom liked that about them. Not sure if concrete comes in different smoothness, but if so, I probably would prefer the smoother surface for myself.
Since it was quick drying cement, we had to load the letters up faster than other cement mixes.
The cardboard warped a little bit in some areas, but nothing obvious. I did have to quickly move the ampersand sign after it was full to prevent the concrete from drying in the center holes.
And then we washed up and waited for the concrete to dry.
I let the letters dry for 2 days before removing the cardboard as we had plans, but I am sure you could remove them after 24 hours.
The end product looked great...
(I messed up on the ampersand sign and cut the back out vs. the front which gave it a smoother finish on top. )
Yet, my mom loved them and is currently testing out spots to put the letters at home.
Happy 65th Mom!
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