If you’ve never used concrete in any of your DIY projects, you’ve been missing out because this is such a versatile material and there are so many beautiful things that you can do with it. Today we’re focusing on DIY concrete projects for outdoor areas such as the backyard and the garden. There’s a lot of cool ideas to go over so let’s dive straight in.

You can make custom stepping stones to create pathways in your backyard or your garden. These ones are really nice because they have this embossed design on them. If you’re interesting in making something similar, you can find all the details and the instructions on dreamalittlebigger. As a general idea, you’re going to need stepping stone kits and fine concrete to make these things.

One of the easiest things you can make out of concrete is a top for one of your tables. To start with something small and simple, check out this lovely side table featured on storefrontlife. Wouldn’t it be perfect for the patio or a cozy sitting area out in the yard? You can make the entire thing from scratch and you’re going to need wood for the base and concrete for the top, a combination that looks rather beautiful.

You can also use concrete for things other than furniture. For example, you could make some poles out of tree branches so you can hang string lights outside. The concrete in this case is used to make heavy and sturdy bases for each of the poles, to keep them in place and to prevent them from being pushed around by the winds. You can check out the project on idaklipperochklistrar if you’re interested.

Concrete is an excellent material for kitchen countertops. With that in mind, you could put together a small outdoor kitchen area if you have the space for it and you can make the furniture for it yourself. There’s a great tutorial on bobvila which explains the entire project and shows you how to make an outdoor kitchen island using wood and concrete mix.

There’s also the option to use concrete to make decorations for the outdoor areas. Since you can shape the concrete however you want to, the possibilities are endless. One idea that we really like comes from lilyardor. This tutorial explains how you can make concrete pumpkins. It’s all quite messy and time-consuming but we absolutely love the end result, especially the little mossy details that give the pumpkins lots and lots of character.

Another cool thing that you can make out of concrete is a beverage cooler that you can keep outside, maybe on your deck or in the garden next to your fire pit. It’s definitely an interesting project which requires some unusual materials such as a concrete form tube and a big plastic bucket. Of course, this will end up being quite heavy so it would be wise to install casters on the base so you can move the cooler around more easily. All the details can be found on dwellinginhappiness.

Larger-scale projects that involve concrete include things like pathways and stepping stones and there are a lot of different ideas worth mentioning here. One of our favorite projects comes from homeiswheretheyloveyou and shows how to make a cobblestone path using concrete mix and concrete forms. This one has a nice and gentle curving shape which makes it look more natural and organic.

Concrete can also be used to make beautiful outdoor planters and there are some really interesting designs that you can try, such as the one featured on diyfunideas. This is shaped like a pair of hands that’s holding the plants and to make it look like that you can use plastic gloves. Use some rocks or anything heavy enough to hold the gloves into the shape that you want and let the concrete dry. Then remove the gloves and sand down the hands.

If you’re building a table for your outdoor deck or patio, you can use concrete pavers for the top section and wood or something else for the base. Use as many pavers as you need to, depending on the size of the table. A single one would be enough if you’re making a side table. Check out bybrittanygoldwyn for additional details about this whole project.

These lovely vases look like they’re made of concrete but they’re not and that’s an interesting little detail. Furthermore, this project also involves repurposing some glass orb light fittings. The rest of the materials required for it include all-purpose wall filler, gray structure paint, a putty knife and either newspaper or drop cloth. Check out the instructions and all the details on kenarry if this is something that you’d like to craft.

You can use concrete mix to make some really cool sculptures to display in your garden and to make things even more interesting these can also double as planters. Making the entire thing from concrete would be difficult to say the least, especially getting the shape right. You can greatly simplify the process by using styrofoam heads. You’ll need to cut off the top of the head and make a hole inside for the plants to go in. Check out the rest of the details on lilyardor.

Fast-setting cement mix is excellent for making lots of cool and interesting things including planters. A concrete planter would look beautiful outdoors and you can definitely keep in inside as well when it gets cold. For the mold you can basically any plastic container that you think has the right size and shape plus a smaller one to put inside in order to get the hollow core. More details about this project can be found on caitlinball.

Aren’t these paving slabs gorgeous? They’re made of concrete and they’re shaped like leaves which brings us to the list of materials required for this project. It includes cement mix, a sharp items such as a screwdriver and large leaves (rhubarb would be great). Simply place the leaf facing down on a flat surface, then cover it up with concrete and let it set overnight. Peel off the leaf and add the finishing touches. You can find additional details on instructables.

Isn’t this concrete bench wonderful? Yes, it’s very simple but that’s what makes it great. It’s all made out of concrete which means it will last you a lifetime so make sure you choose the right spot for it because it will stay there for a while. Building something like this is not as difficult as it may seem. If you’re interested in the details, check out the tutorial on instructables.

Another really cool idea for DIY concrete project for the outdoors is this lighting feature that would look lovely in a modern or a contemporary garden or backyard. It’s a project that comes from instructables and it involves using concrete mix, wooden boards and styrofoam cubes. the trickiest part of making the mold given that it has such a distinctive shape.

As you might already know, it’s possible to use regular egg shells to make tiny little planters. However, if you want something bigger, chicken eggs just won’t do. You’d need some giant egg shells and you can actually craft those out of concrete. You can make them as big as you want to and you can decorate them in lots of interesting ways based on the theme that you’re going for. Head over to madebybarb if you want to find out more about this project.

Another lovely idea is to make some cute little stools using tree branches for the base and concrete for the seats. These would fit perfectly outside and they’d also be really easy to make. Just take a plastic bucket, pour some concrete mix in its, then insert three branches and space them out and keep them at an angle so they end up forming a stable base for the stool. Let the concrete dry, remove the mold and sand down the surface to make it smooth. You might have to trim the branches a bit too. You can find additional instructions for this on themaven.