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Here at The Latch, we’re all about sustainability — buying only what we need and giving what we already have a second life. So, you can imagine our excitement, then, when we stumbled on instructions for how to use an old towel to make a brand-new — incredibly stylish, might I add — vase.
“I had actually seen some faux coral type vessels and bowls while shopping in some high-end homewares stores and thought to myself could I recreate this look,” says Shannon from DIY Instagram account @ourperthreno.
“I felt inspired to make something that would have a similar effect to coral that was more affordable. After doing some research, I settled on using a towel to create that coral effect and a watery cement mix that would help to set the towel in the shape I wanted.
“When I saw a PVC pipe in Bunnings, I knew that I could use it to help me set the towel in the shape I wanted and also help when spray-painting. I love that it’s super easy and something that anyone can do.”
Ahead, Shannon shares what to buy and what steps to follow if you have a spare few hours one day and want to make, too.
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You Will Need
- Holman 100mm PVC DWV Push On Cap, $3.50
- Holman 100mm x 1m PVC DWV Pipe, $25.65
- Bastion 20kg General Purpose Cement, $6.90
- Uni-PRO 38mm You Can Do It Synthetic Wall Paint Brush, $7.15
- Rust-Oleum 340g 2X Ultra Cover Paint+Prime Matt White Spray Paint, $15.05
- Old towel
- Scissors
- Permanent marker
- Gloves
- Bucket and water
- Optional: screws, drill, piece of board for steadying pipe
How to Make a Towel Vase
1. Fold an old towel into quarters then draw a quarter circle and cut along the line, this will give you a full circle.
2. I screwed a 100mm pipe cap to a piece of board on the floor then placed the pipe into it, this helps to hold it steady. The reason I went with a pipe is so the towel isn’t touching the ground when it’s hanging, this gives a nice finished shape.
3. Soak the towel in some water and squeeze it out.
4. Mix the cement then soak the towel in it.
5. Place a pipe cap on the top of the pipe then hang the wet towel over it and leave it to dry overnight. You can use a paint brush to paint on extra cement at this point depending on the finished texture you would like to achieve.
6. Once dry paint it with spray paint. You could also use normal paint and brush.
7. When the paint is dry, remove the vase from the pipe. I kept the pipe cap inside mine which helps to hold the shape.
8. Place a container of water inside the vase to hold your flowers.
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