DIY Splatter Painted Concrete Sphere Bookends

I am starting to amass quite a collection of craft and home decor books and I love having them displayed on my shelves. But I am not yet to the point where I can fill an entire shelf with them, so a few bookends are necessary. These DIY splatter painted concrete sphere bookends were the perfect easy DIY project to help keep my books upright. And I just love the unique spherical look!

If you have never experimented with concrete casting before, you should definitely give it a try. It was one of those mediums that I was intimidated by for a long time until I finally bought a bag and tried making a few things myself. Now I am hooked on concrete casting and want to try a bigger project like making my own pavers with it. But for now, we will stick to these easy bookends.

Supplies:
-cement mix (I used white masonry cement that I found at the hardware store)
-large mixing bowl
-spoon
–sphere cake pans
-vegetable oil
-sanding brick
-spray paint
–gold paint pen

Step 1: Begin by prepping your mold by rubbing the inside with vegetable oil. This helps the concrete slip out of the mold easily. Then measure out your powdered cement. I found that using the cake pan above I needed about 10 cups of cement for the molds (5 cups per mold). Next, add water and mix your concrete until it resembles cake batter and pour it into your molds until it reaches the top. Shake and tap the pan gently to remove any air bubbles, then set aside to let cure overnight.

Step 2: Once cured, remove the sphere halves from the molds and use a sanding brick to sand them smooth on all sides. Then sand down one side of each hemisphere to create a flat side that they can sit on without tipping over. You will need to sand down about 2-3″.

Step 3: Once your bookends are sanded down and will sit vertically, it is time to decorate them. You can actually leave them as is for a more industrial look, or spray paint them in the color of your choice. For a little extra shine, add some gold paint splatters with the paint pen. To do this, just flick the paint pen in a downward motion over the bookends. The paint will flow from the pen and make the perfect splatter on the bookends. Let the paint dry and your bookends are finally ready to corral all your books.

As I mentioned, the concrete casting may look intimidating, but it is easier than you think. And with a small project like these DIY splatter painted concrete sphere bookends, you really can’t mess it up. Now the only question is how will your paint your bookends? xo. Kara

Credits // Author and Photography: Kara Whitten. Photos edited with A Color Story Desktop.