Concrete Pumpkin Project ~

Summer is fading into fall so it's time for mums, football and of course pumpkins! I've made hypertufa-concrete orbs in the past and thought pumpkins would be a fun little project as well ~ cheap plastic treat pumpkins make great molds!

I gathered my supplies...hypertufa-concrete is a mix or peat moss, perlite & cement most recipes call for portland cement I used vinyl concrete patching cement I had left over from another project ~ I also added some cement color additive because I didn't want my finished pumpkins to be cement gray...

I mixed up my ingredients and added some color ~ my mix was approximately 2 parts concrete to 1 part each of the peat moss & perlite ~ I added enough water to make a thick cottage cheese type texture...

I covered the hole in the bottom with a piece of duct tape, sprayed the inside of my pumpkins with cooking spray to keep the mixture from sticking and filled them to the top...I used rail road spikes for stems I pushed them right down the center, the mix was thick enough to hold them upright while they dried...

I set them aside to dry for a few days and then got to work on removing the plastic pumpkin molds ~ I used a utility knife to slice down the sides and then pealed them right off...

Jack-o-lantern side for Halloween...

Turned around they work right through Thanksgiving!

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#pumpkins #autumnideas

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Roki Hi
on Nov 6, 2018

How about making it lighter by putting a large, styrofoam craft ball in the middle? It’d be a heck of a lot cheaper.

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- Patti
  on May 5, 2020
  
  That's a great idea. I keep the styrofoam/packing peanuts from my delivered packages for my bigger plant pots. I don't even have to go to the Dollar Store for this project.
  
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Carol Ewing
on Aug 4, 2019

I know you listed ratios but do you have actual measurement of ingredients so I'll know how much to mix up to fill the traditional sized pumpkin?

1

Answer this
- Diana Wearing
  on Aug 4, 2019
  
  I’m sorry I don’t, when I’ve made them I usually make a few at a time and just kept mixing until it looked like enough. I will say that it takes more than you think it’s going to at least mine did.
  
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Jenny Price Schunke
on Sep 5, 2019

I did a pumpkin and followed the directions regarding mixing. My pumpkin never fully dried on the top. Any suggestions?

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Answer this
- Diana Wearing
  on Sep 6, 2019
  
  I would say just give it some time, I've made these several times and some have just taken longer then others to dry but they all did eventually dry and harden up.
  
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