804 



Popular Science Monthly 



Cement Flower Boxes Made in 

 iMud Molds 



MOST of the really artistic and beauti- 

 ful flower vases and boxes of pot- 

 tery and stone for use on verandas and 

 lawns are very expensive. But the boxes 

 illustrated mav be easily made from a 



T.vo boxes made from 

 cement which is formed 

 in handmade molds 

 of plastic clay or mud, 

 making irregular 

 shapes of the surfaces 



mixture of cement, sand, 

 and coarse gravel. This 

 mixture may be molded 

 into original and artistic 

 flower-boxes and vases by 

 means of plain mud mixed 

 from clay soil. 



The beauty of the finished products 

 rivals that of the most expensive flower 

 vases and boxes of stone and pottery, and 

 their cost is almost nothing. They can be 

 made in any color or in blends of several 

 colors by adding coloring pigments to the 

 cement in the mixing. 



To make them, follow these directions: 

 Make a cement mixture of 1 part good 

 cement; 2 parts washed sand, and 1 part 

 washed coarse gravel. To this dry mix- 

 ture add just enough water to make it run 

 freely into crevices. Procure some clay 

 soil that will mix up into a sticky mud and 

 mix up a tubful of this to the consistency 

 of putty. With bare hands take chunks of 

 the sticky mud and slap it down on the 

 i,'round in the shape you have decided to 

 have the vase or box. 



Remember that the inside of the mold 

 you are forming should be kept rough and 

 irregular. If you have your mud mixed 



to the right consistency you will have no 

 trouble in taking it from the pile in large 

 sticky lumps which you are adding to the 

 base of the vase or box and piling it up, 

 leaving the inside shape in the form of the 

 receptacle you are making. Build up the 

 mold about 18 in. high and then fill in 

 with the cement mixture. It will run 



^ into the crevices everywhere 



around the mud form. When 

 ^j^ . • level full begin building up 



"^ your mold of mud again. 



When you are ready to form 

 the bowl, begin to build up a 

 mud form in the center and 

 leave about a 2-in. space all 

 around the side 

 walls of the 

 mold. After it 

 is shaped and 

 built up high 

 enough to suit 

 your fancy, fill 

 in with more 

 cement mix- 

 ture until it is 

 level full. You 

 now have the 

 walls of the re- 

 ceptacle form- 

 ed. Top them 

 off with more 

 mud, pressing 

 the chunks 

 down into the 

 cement to give the edges of the walls thus 

 formed an irregular shape in keeping with 

 the rest of the receptacle. Let the whole 

 mass stand undisturbed for one week, after 

 which time the mud will begin to crack and 

 break away. You can then chip it away " 

 carefully from the cement, revealing the 

 shape of your flower vase or box. Dig the 

 iiiud out of the bowl and let the cement 

 weather for two days more. Now you 

 can wash the mud out of the crevices in 

 the cement, and you will be surprised at 

 the artistic cave-rock formation you have 

 obtained. After a little practice you will 

 be able to create any formations you 

 desire by shaping the sticky lumps of mud 

 in that way. No two receptacles will 

 ever be exactly alike. Once the cement 

 is thoroughly dry it is as hard as solid 

 rock. The boxes are as substantial as 

 if made from solid stone and are prac- 

 tically indestructible.— J. R. Schmidt. 



