How to Make a Dyed Cement Planter

How to Add Color to Cement Planters

I’m back with another cement project. Are you sick of them yet? I made budget concrete planters. And then I made a concrete fountain. Next were cement orb planters… and now I’m seeing how I can add a little color! I googled ways to dye cement and… turns out you can add regular ol’ latex paint. So I decided to give it a whirl!

Step 1. Color the Water

I started by mixing the paint with some water. I didn’t measure but I’d guess I added about 1 part paint to 4 parts water.

Step 2. Mix the Cement

Once the water was colored, I added the cement like normal. I’m working with CementAll and the suggested ratio is 1 part water to 4 parts cement. Of course I started with cups that were too small so midway through mixing, I transferred the cement mixture to larger containers.

Step 3. Prep Containers and Pour Cement

For these planters, I’m using plastic Dollar Tree bowls. Plastic bowls work SO well for cement molds. I sprayed them with cooking oil first just to be safe.  I poured each color of cement into the larger bowl and then pressed the smaller bowl down into the wet cement.

Important: the inside bowl WILL float to the surface so you’ll need to weigh it down a bit to keep it set down into the cement.

Step 4. Let Cement Set up for a few hours

Step 5. Release the molds

Releasing the cement planters was simple. I was able to carefully twist the inside bowl and it came away easily! How cool do they look???

The paint definitely added a subtle color to the planters and I love the effect. Keep in mind that you’re adding 4 parts of a gray powder to your colored water so it makes sense that the colors will be a bit dilute.

Recommended: Drill a hole in the bottom of the planter to allow for proper drainage. I used a forstner bit for the first hole and unfortunately the cement chewed apart my bit so…. just use a regular drill bit for this step!

Add dirt and plants and enjoy!