Concrete Pumpkins for Fall Decor

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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!
Watch the video.
Let’s get started. First things first, put on the 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.
Using the Pam, cooking spray, or silicone, spray the outside of the cup and inside the pumpkin, set aside (this will help the plastic release from the concrete once it’s cured).
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.
Center the cup and push down into the center of the pumpkin opening. Remove any excess concrete that oozes out the top sides.
Cover with plastic wrap and place a large, heavy, flat object on top to keep the cup from floating up out of place.
Use the utility knife to cut through the plastic to remove.
Leave concrete color or paint/stain the pumpkins.
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.
For more details please visit our website!
Enjoyed the project?
Suggested materials:
- 3 Plastic Pumpkins (Target)
- Cooking Spray (Target)
- Plastic cup
- Concrete (Home Depot)
- Mask/ Gloves (Amazon)
- Utility knife

Comments
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Lisa Marie Peek-Kluever on Oct 31, 2016
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Mother Daughter Projects on Oct 31, 2016
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Mother Daughter Projects on Aug 08, 2018
I'm pretty sure what we used was a standard concrete mix. We did, however, remove the rocks from it with a kitchen fry basket as a sifter. But you could use it with the rock, but the surface will not be smooth. It all depends on the look you are going for. You could also use a mix that is sold without rocks (aggregate) mixed in. ~Vicki
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Frequently asked questions
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How heavy are these when they are done
Could glitter be added to the concrete mix without affecting the mix?