DIY Concrete Pumpkins

DIY CONCRETE PUMPKINS

Hey Ya'll!

Ready to make some concrete pumpkins for Halloween?

I sure am even though it is September 5th.  I've been ready for a few weeks now.

I made these two pumpkins for just about $4.00 each.

And they weigh approximately 25 pounds each!

This is a very simple and inexpensive process, so don't worry much about messing up.

Here's what you will need:

- A 50 pound bag of Quickrete $5.00 (I got from Lowes) Makes 2 pumpkins

-Pam cooking spray or Generic brand like I used "Chef's Own $1.00

-2 Plastic Pumpkins $1.00 each

-Mixing bucket

-Water

-Sharp utility knife

-

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I didn't have any plastic pumpkins on hand from last Halloween so I first looked around at the local Goodwill.  There I found three of them for only .99cents each.   Sad only because new at Walmart they were 1.00 each. lol. So even though super cheap, I just figured they'd be cheaper for some reason.

Here is a photo of most of my supplies.  Notice there are three pumpkins I had ready.

Well, I found out quick that a 50 pound bag of Quickrete concrete mix only makes 2 pumpkins!

Yes that's right.  So each pumpkin after done will be approximately 25 pounds right?

I used an old Lowes plastic 5 gallon utility bucket for mixing the concrete in.

Here's my trick. Since the bag is so heavy and awkward to handle, I sit it on the back of my truck's tailgate.  Then I slit a whole into the bottom, corner of the bag and let it freely pour directly into my bucket.

This is so much easier than handling the bag so many times, adding a touch more and so.

Don't mix it too runny!  Read your bag for best instructions.

Here is a very important part!

Right before you begin to pour your concrete mix into your pumpkins, 

YOU MUST SPRAY THE INSIDES GOOD 

with a coat of the PAM or Generic cooking spray.

This will coat the insides and allow the concrete to release easier later on after drying.

I used a plastic, kids shovel I had on hand for dipping the concrete out and into the pumpkin.

I tried to keep it from coming out.

But it was hard because after you fill up your pumpkin, 

you must keep lifting it up and tapping it down on the ground 

to release any air bubbles trapped inside.

Do this over and over a few times.

You can always take your hand or cloth and wipe away the excess right at the rim.

Now comes the hard part.....

You must let them sit for about 24 hours before you start to cut the plastic buckets.

This is how I made my cuts.

I did four slices, top to bottom very carefully.

Try to avoid cutting so deep that it marks the concrete.

The concrete of mine, was still not completely set up even after 24 hours.

And then you slowly peel them back.

And then the concrete pumpkin will finally begin to emerge completely out of the plastic.

And this is it.

This is my very first try at making a Concrete Pumpkin.

I did let them sit another 24 hours after getting them out of the plastic before handling them too much.

You can see the holes in the concrete where air was apparently still trapped.

But for my purposes they are just fine.

I've read about a countertop mix available at Lowes that allows for a super smooth finish.

But for me just wanting them to sit outside as decoration, I don't want to add anything to the mix to make it very expensive.

Here are the plastic buckets after I got the concrete out.

And here it is after it was all complete.

I like the concrete look but on the next one I may do a white, crackle paint finish.