Expensive Rocks

Of all the crafting I've done, this one was probably the most time consuming and also the most invested I've been in a failed project simply due to the time it took to find supplies and the time it took waiting for the concrete to set.
On a sunny San Francisco afternoon, some buddies and I took on the task of creating planters and candle holders out of concrete. There were many blogs and pins we referenced for this one. The best and most informative ones we found were Home Made Moden - DIY Modern Candle Holders and radmegan - Molded Concrete Planters.
After gathering all the supplies, we hauled everything up to the rooftop to start our project. For the most part, we followed the instructions pretty well. After filling the containers with cement, we set them on a ledge to dry using a creative adult beverage solution for holding the cups/candles in place (we found that the air bubbles in the cement would push the empty plastic cups up and needed to be weighted).

...Then we waited.... and waited.... and waited.....
The quick drying concrete we bought should have dried fast, however, I believe we used too much water so they took a little longer than they should have to dry, which was mistake #1. Mistake #2 was leaving the concrete containers on the roof overnight. It was a misty and foggy night in San Francisco which added even more moisture to the concrete, which I think was bad? Maybe it was all the sun they got before the fog? Maybe the shade would have helped? Who knows... (seriously, if you read this and you know, tell me!).

The next morning, I was really excited to see how they turned out and hoped they wouldn't fall apart. I peeled off a red cup from the outside of one of the containers and it looked great! I was so excited! But then I tried to take out the inner cup and this happened:

So I tried my luck on another one I made from an orange juice container. It stayed together but had some major cracking that I will need to glue.

 

 

After two in a row with structural damage, I let the remaining continue to sit hoping they that would harden more as some of them appeared to have cracks as well. 

 

My fingers are crossed! Hopefully some of these will turn out ok. If not, we still have another bucket of concrete - there's always round two! Maybe the next time around I can get one as nice as Camille Styles (I secretly... now publicly... hate her because her's turned out so perfect):