How to Make Fake Bamboo

Genuine, natural bamboo cane has an earthy, exotic look that's great for decorating and building, but at times when natural bamboo isn't strong enough or just isn't available, you may need a way to create realistic-looking synthetic bamboo. Luckily, since bamboo canes tend grow in such regular, even and straight conical formations, you can use PVC pipe as the basis to make inexpensive, durable fake bamboo canes capable of fooling anyone who doesn't look too closely.

For this project, you'll need:

PVC pipe
Sandpaper
Wood putty
Beige spray paint
Greyish-brown acrylic paint
Artist's paintbrush
House paintbrush

Sand the PVC pipe by hand. This will roughen up the surface and make paint stick to it, later. Hold in up to a light to watch the gleam on the surface and make sure you haven't missed any spots.

Mark rings on the cane for ridges in pencil. Use a piece of string wrapped tightly around the cane to help you mark even circles. Space them at least five inches apart; make the spacing distance the same for each cane, but different from cane to cane.

Create ridges on the canes using putty. Coat each ring with a layer of putty about an inch wide. Smooth the putty so that it tapers from the outsides of the ring into a high point at the center, just like the shape of a real bamboo ring. Use your pencil to cut a band-shaped groove inside this center point. Let dry.

Give the canes a coat of beige spray paint. Let dry, then turn them over to paint the other side.

Paint the insides of the ridges. Use a thin line of greyish-brown paint to fill the insides of the grooves at the center of each putty band.

Create a wood grain texture with paint. Thin some of the same acrylic grey-brown paint with water until it's the consistency of cream. Dip just the tip of a stiff-bristled house paintbrush. Using a very light touch, apply fine lines of paint to the canes using a steady, swift motion. Move the brush from the top of the cane to the bottom in a single stroke each time.

Tip: It can take a few tries to get the touch just right for creating the wood grain lines. Keep a wet rag on hand to wipe away the paint as you make mistakes.