Introduction: Concrete Pumpkins

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About: We're Mother Daughter Projects, sharing our DIY adventures as we learn to maintain, improve, decorate, and use tech in our homes.

Having just discovered how fun and easy it is to work with concrete, Steph thought a plastic pumpkin would make a great concrete mold.The advantage for those of us living in warm to hot autumn weather is a concrete pumpkin will not rot and can be left out all October. Win!

Step 1: Watch the Video

Step 2: Gather Materials

Materials/Tools

  • $1 plastic pumpkin
  • Plastic cup (we used a red Solo cup)
  • Concrete, cement, or mortar (we used Quikrete and Sakrete brand)
  • Pam or a generic cooking spray or a silicone spray
  • Water
  • Trowel or mixing spoon (we used a kid’s sand shovel)
  • Scissors, utility knife
  • Face mask, disposable gloves

Step 3: Wear Mask and Gloves

Concrete/cement products create lots of fine dust—you don’t want to breathe that stuff in and the product is very drying to your hands—protect them with gloves.

Step 4: Cut Handle Off

Step 5: Spray Cooking Spray on Cup and Pumpkin

This will help the plastic release from the concrete once it’s cured.

Step 6: Mix Concrete and Water

Mix up the concrete, cement, or mortar. For the orange pumpkin, we used concrete in which we sifted out the rocks. We used mortar for the other two. Slowly add water to the concrete and mix until all is well mixed. Err on the side of too little water than too much. You want a mixture about the consistency of brownie batter.

Step 7: Add Concrete Mix to Pumpkin

Step 8: Remove Air Bubbles

Gently tap pumpkin on the ground or table to bring air bubbles to the surface—continue mixing up concrete and adding to the pumpkin until nearly even with the top.

Step 9: Place Cup in Center

Center the cup and push down into the center of the pumpkin opening. Remove any excess concrete that oozes out the top sides.

Step 10: Cover With Plastic Wrap and Place Heavy Object on Top

Step 11: Let Cure for 20+ Hours

Step 12: Remove Cup and Pumpkin Using Utility Knife

Step 13: Decorate Your Pumpkin

Orange Pumpkin: stained with DecoArt Color stain. This pumpkin does double duty as a plant pot. That’s an oregano plant that makes the fun hair.

Waxed Pumpkin: This had a concrete terra cotta colorant added to the concrete/water mix. We dripped three colors of candles onto it. It does double duty as a candle holder.

Blue Pumpkin: This guy was painted with Rust-Oleum Lagoon spray paint and his face is painted with DecoArt Chalky finish paint. It does double duty as a non-candy holder to bring awareness of those little ones that have food allergies.

Step 14: Enjoy!

We love how our thee concrete pumpkins turned out!

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Halloween Decor Contest 2016

Participated in the
Halloween Decor Contest 2016