DIY Faux Concrete Vases

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I’ll be honest, I wasn’t sure if this DIY was going to turn out okay at first, but now I’m so in love with these DIY faux concrete vases!

I know there are a quite a few different tutorials out there to make similar ones, but the one that inspired mine was this one here: Wonderfully Made – DIY Painted Concrete Vase

Mine turned out pretty different from hers in the end, but I still love them!

And that’s one of the great things about DIY projects like this, they don’t have to be perfect! The differences and imperfections actually give them a lot of character!

So keep reading and I’ll show you how I turned these two outdated vases into chic accent pieces!

Supplies Needed:

• Vases (whatever shape and size you prefer will work fine!)
• Krylon spray paint – Deep Gray – Matte
• DecoArt Americana craft paint – Grey Sky
• Paint brush
• Sand paper or sanding sponge (optional)
• Clear sealing spray (optional)

I already had these vases on hand, but you can also almost always find them at thrift stores, usually for a great price!

Step 1: Prep vases

First off you’ll want to make sure to clean your vases well both inside and out. Scrape off any sticker residue, and then dry them thoroughly.

Now if you want to paint the inside of your vases as well, you can just skip to the next step.

But if you’d rather not paint the inside, then you’ll need to cover the vase’s opening before you start spray painting.

How you do this may change a bit depending on the size of your vase’s opening.

For mine I just taped right below the inside edge, where I didn’t want the gray paint to be.

Then I placed my vase upside down on a piece of thick paper and traced the opening with a pen onto the paper.

Once I was finished I cut out the circle, then trimmed it down a little bit more until it fit just inside the opening without falling all the way through.

Here’s what it looked like after I was finished:

Step 2: Spray paint

So this step is where I ran into a little trouble at first, haha!

When I started to spray paint the vases, the paint was spraying really unevenly and randomly splattering out in large chunks!

All I could think was the can must have been defective somehow.

Of course it’s possible I just didn’t shake it enough, but I did shake it just as much as I usually do with other brands of spray paint that haven’t had any issues, so I’m not sure!

Honestly I also normally prefer to use Rust-oleum spray paint over Krylon for my projects, but since I was trying to recreate the exact look here, I wanted to use the same paint brand and color.

I thought about stopping at this point, but I decided that the textured look it was making might actually add to them in the end, so I kept going with it.

Now I’m so glad I did!

But don’t worry if your can sprays normally! On the original vase that I linked to above the paint was smooth and it looked gorgeous too!

If you really want a similar look to mine, you can try using a textured paint, or diying texture on your vase before you paint it using spackling or something similar.

Once you’re finished spray painting them, be sure to allow them plenty of time to dry before moving onto the next step.

Step 3: Sanding (optional)

Obviously you’ll only need to do this step if you’re vase has texture like mine did.

If you went with a smooth look, feel free to skip to the next step!

But if not, just take some sand paper or a sanding block and gently sand the entire thing. Just enough so that there aren’t any rough edges though, be sure not to sand the texture off completely!

Once you’re finished, just rinse the outside of the vase and wipe it off with a lint free cloth or paper towel.

Make sure it’s dry, and then move onto the next step…

Step 4: Craft paint

Now you’ll be dry brushing the lighter gray paint onto your vases.

I just put some paint on a paper plate, and dabbed my brush into it, then wiped most of it off using a few brush strokes across the plate.

Then with the small amount of paint that still remained on the brush I lightly went across the vase, using both vertical and horizontal strokes.

Then just repeat this process as many time as you want until you’re happy with the finished look.

It will probably take quite a bit of dry brushing to get that concrete look, but just make sure to not overdo it and end up covering all the dark gray paint!

You still want some of it to show through.

Step 5 – Sealing (optional)

At this point you can seal your vases is you’d like.

I used Rust-oleum Clear Sealing Spray which makes it super quick and easy!

Just set your vases upside down on some newspaper outside and spray a thin coat over the entire thing.

You can repeat this step once they’re dry to add a second coat of sealer if you think your vases will be handled a lot and might need the extra protection.

Once you’re finished, allow your sealer enough time to dry before handling.

Remove the tape and paper from the inside opening of the vases, and you’re all finished!

The final look:

Here’s how the vases turned out in the end:

I think the texture really did end up adding to the look!

And it just goes to show that there really is no wrong way to do a DIY project!

Sometimes the unexpected things that happen along the way are what you end up really loving about it in the end!

I’m actually so happy with how these turned out that I’m already planning to paint another project using this same technique, haha!

I hope these DIY faux concrete vases helped inspire you to try making your own!

And if you’re looking for more simple and chic home decor DIYs be sure to check out these posts :

Dollar Store DIY – Succulent Wreath

DIY Jute Wrapped Cotton Balls

Dollar Store DIY – Hot Chocolate Sign

I’d love to know what you thought about this DIY, so be sure to share in the comments section below!

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