DIY home projects

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I came across this adorable little fish baking pan at a garage sale for 25 cents!  I knew I was never going to make a cake that looked like a fish, but I knew he would be absolutely adorable outside near a little koi pond or any other type of water feature even though he wasn't in the water.  And since this little guy was going to a friend with a koi pond I painted him to look more like that, but you can easily paint him to resemble quite a few different fish.

What you'll need:

aluminum fish cake pan (check garage sales and thrift stores!)
cooking spray
an old bucket and trowel
quikrete
optional - rebar or a stake of sorts if you want him to not sit directly on the ground

Start by spraying the inside of your pan with a good coating of cooking spray.  This is going to make sure your concrete easily slips back out of your mold once it's hardened.  Then it's time to mix up your quikrete according to the directions on your package in an old bucket.




When your concrete is ready, shovel your concrete mix into your cake pan until it is full to the top.




When your pan is full, light tap it on the ground to get all the air bubbles released and to the top of the mixture.

If you want to make your fish raised up off the ground a bit, now is the time to put in some sort of stake.  You could use a small piece of rebar or any other type of sturdy metal rod.  I had some leftover garden fencing stakes, so I put one of those into the middle of my fish, making sure it was far enough into the concrete, but not all the way through and resting on the pan.  Keep in mind that these type of stakes are not sturdy enough to hold up your fish more than a few inches off of the ground, so if you want it higher off the ground you will need something stronger. 

* I cut my stake down once it was dried in place in the concrete.  I left it long so that it could rest against a table while it dried so that it stayed in place.



Once it is completely dry (this will depend on your location, the amount of humidity, etc) he is ready for some paint.  I used acryclic paint to paint my fish and then I sprayed him with a clear acrylic spray to protect the paint.

do it yourself