Modelling and casting

You don't need to be a bricklayer to work with concrete casting

Here at Creativ Company, there are no materials, products, colours, creative pursuits or interests which we consider to be reserved for one gender. When it comes to concrete casting, gender or indeed anything else should not get in the way of giving this activity a try.

The only exception is age, as it's not recommended that very small children work with concrete, as they might eat or chew things that are not intended for this purpose. Apart from the fact that concrete casting is not suitable the youngest kids, this is an activity that most people can enjoy trying.

We care about both our products and you as a customer, which is why we do everything we can to ensure that you have a good shopping experience, no matter who you are and what you buy from us. You don't have to be a bricklayer or a labourer to work with concrete casting, and it's entirely up to you what you'd like to create.

You can find a good selection of hobby concrete in our webshop, and you're free to choose whether you want to buy accessories for this or not.

So, how do you cast in concrete?

When casting in concrete, you can choose to use things you already have. It just needs to be a product that's either elastic, so you can get your finished items free, or you need to use something that you feel comfortable with breaking apart. An old wooden box that you want to cast in will probably have to be broken apart to get the hardened concrete free.

Hobby concrete works very much like ordinary concrete. The bucket or tub of concrete you plan to use will have instructions on how to mix and cast your portion of concrete.

There are currently several good tutorial videos on YouTube from different people showing you how to cast things in concrete, so you can enjoy learning more by searching for 'casting' and 'hobby concrete' on YouTube.

The difference between professional concrete and hobby concrete

Although concrete is basically the same product, there can be a big difference in both the type of concrete and the quality. At Creativ Company, we are committed to sourcing good and useful products that are suitable for creative activities and DIY projects.

A lot of 'professional' concrete, i.e. concrete for the casting of floors and other critical things, must be cured for a long time, while the surface of hobby concrete typically dries in 24 hours. Normal concrete also often becomes surface dry after about 24 hours, but a concrete floor can take up to three weeks to harden completely.

The length of time your cast pieces take to cure completely depends on a number of factors. These range from the quality of the product and the mixing ratio to the thickness of the object you cast and the humidity level wherever you placed your cast concrete, all of which can affect the curing time.

What sort of things can you make using hobby concrete?

There’s not much you can't cast using hobby concrete. Naturally there are a number of exceptions, as there are things that can be cast in hobby concrete, but which are just a lot better if they're made from another material. Both utensils and decorative items can be made as concrete castings. This includes everything from concrete figures for the garden to candle holders, concrete bowls, advent candlesticks, impressions of feet and hands, bookends and much more.

So you can make many different things with hobby concrete, and it's up to you whether you want the object to retain its raw concrete appearance (grey colour) or whether you want to paint the surface. You also have the option of making things out of concrete that are solidly coloured. All you need to do is purchase a suitable colour dye to mix into your liquid concrete.

When it comes to painting raw concrete in the typical grey colour, you can paint the surface once it's dry and hardened.

Find inspiration for creating things with casting in our idea catalogue

If you want to see specific ideas for what you can cast, you can find a lot of examples in our idea catalogue. Our idea catalogue includes gorgeous pictures of the results of the individual ideas, and by clicking further on the idea you can see a nice little guide for you to follow so you can get started on casting your own things in concrete.

Our extensive idea catalogue offers many other suggestions than just our  ideas for casting, so if you're looking for other things to dive into, you can also find plenty of other creative possibilities in painting and drawing, decoration and homemade jewellery, for example.

Several of our creative ideas allow you to cast one item out of concrete plus another material, while others encourage you to mix colour into your concrete mix before doing your casting.. Many of the instructions require that you have a certain type of mould to cast in, but you can also use things you can find at home. For example, you can cast a concrete hand in a disposable latex glove.

Advantages of concrete casting

When you choose to make a concrete casting yourself, you decide what you want to make, what materials you want to use, whether you want to dye your concrete beforehand or paint your concrete once it's cast – or whether you'd prefer to keep its raw look. If you buy a ready-made piece of concrete, it has no particular significance for you, apart from being nice to look at.

On the other hand, if you’ve cast it yourself then it will have a higher value for you because of all the memories associated with making it, and if the result is really fine then you can be proud of it. If you do a lot of concrete castings, you can even sell them or give them to friends, family and colleagues.

So, in addition to saving money by making things out of concrete on your own, you will also be able to develop your creative skills and enrich your home or those of others with something you have made yourself. Casting things from hobby concrete is also something you can do with family or friends.