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Concrete Pumpkin Project ~

by Diana Wearing
(IC: homeowner)
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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Published September 13th, 2015 7:59 PM
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Cynthia Pliss on Nov 24, 2021
We feed the deer all the pumpkins at the end of the season.
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Frequently asked questions
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How about making it lighter by putting a large, styrofoam craft ball in the middle? It’d be a heck of a lot cheaper.
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?
I did a pumpkin and followed the directions regarding mixing. My pumpkin never fully dried on the top. Any suggestions?