DIY Concrete Pumpkins with Dyed Concrete

Learn how to make these DIY concrete pumpkins, with natural and dyed concrete.  These concrete pumpkins are adorable – and so easy to make!

I made two natural concrete pumpkins in grey and then one colored with just leftover house paint and it turned out so cute – I am definitely going to experiment with coloring concrete again.

Supplies for Making Concrete Pumpkins:

• Concrete mix (I used Quikrete)
• Water
• Bucket
• Old Spade or trowel
• Twine or string
• Thick rope (or fake pumpkin stem)
• Old nylons/pantyhose/trouser socks/tights
• Hot glue
• Rubber gloves
• Dust mask
• Safety glasses
• Scissors
• Latex or acrylic paint (optional)
• Old soup can (optional)

How Do You Make Concrete Pumpkins with Pantyhose?

You don’t need a pumpkin mold to make concrete pumpkins – the magic is in the nylons/tights!  As you will see in the tutorial in this post, we will be pouring wet concrete into pantyhose or nylons and tying the nylon into a knot.  This will make a wet little concrete ball, which we will shape into a pumpkin using twine.  Once the concrete dries, the twine will have left pumpkin shaped indents and we will cut away the twine and nylons.  For my DIY concrete pumpkins, I used trouser socks instead of pantyhose or tights, which I found worked really well because they were very sturdy and didn’t get stuck to the concrete upon removal.  If you’re using pantyhose/nylons to make your DIY concrete pumpkins, look for something that is a bit thicker – really thin, cheap tights can get stuck to the concrete as it dries.  Cut them about the length of socks – you only need the part that covers toes and calves.

What Kind of Concrete Do You Use for Pumpkins?

Wondering what kind of concrete is used to make DIY concrete pumpkins?  I used Quikrete Ready-to-Use Concrete Mix.  But you can use any kind of concrete that you have on or can find locally!  But don’t buy too big a bag, because it can harden in the bag and become useless if you don’t use it all up.  So I like the smaller bags of Quikrete.  I actually stored some of the small Quikrete bags from last year, and they were still great, but bigger bags of another brand I bought for a different project hardened over the winter.

How to Dye Concrete:

To dye my pumpkin a blue/grey, I mixed the concrete up with water, but kept it a pretty dry, crumbly mixture and then added the paint – I used a pale aqua latex paint.  I didn’t measure, I just poured in a bit until the consistency was good.  The paint will add wetness to your concrete so start with a really dry batch and then add some paint, but make sure you have extra concrete mix on hand in case it gets a little too wet again.  Because my concrete is naturally pretty dark grey, I didn’t get a very vivid color from adding paint to concrete, but you can definitely see the blue tint and I think it looks perfectly like a blue heirloom pumpkin!  Adding a richer/darker color of your paint to your concrete mixture will change the outcome, so have fun experimenting with tinting concrete.  You can also use something like powdered fabric dye.

How Do You Make DIY Concrete Pumpkins?

Here’s a quick step by step tutorial for how to make concrete pumpkins – I’ll share detailed instructions with, photos below.

1. Put on a pair of rubber gloves, dust mask, and eye protection.
2. Mix up the concrete in a bucket, following the directions on the package.
3. Use a spade to stir the concrete.
4. Stretch the opening of the nylon across a tin can for ease, or simply have someone hold it open.
5. Pour in the concrete, working it down to the bottom with your hands.
6. Gently wiggle and pat the concrete to get it into a nice ball shape.
7. Tie the nylon at the top of the concrete.
8. Cut three pieces of twine or thin rope and arrange in a wheel spoke shape.
9. Place the ball of concrete in the center.
10. Tie the ends of the twine at the top of the pumpkin, cinching tightly to create grooves.
11. Let the concrete dry for 24-48 hours, cut the twine with scissors, and remove the nylon.
12. Rinse off any residue with a hose.
13. Let concrete fully cure for another 24-48 hours.
14. Cut a piece of thicker rope into a stem shape and hot glue to the top.

DIY Concrete Pumpkins Tutorial with Photos:

Sounds pretty easy to make these concrete pumpkins, right?  The only hard part is waiting for them to cure!  Let me show you some step by step photos and share more detailed instructions.  Mix up the concrete in a bucket, following the directions on the package.  You don’t need a drill or any fancy attachment to mix concrete – an old spade works just fine.  Mix it to a thick batter consistency:

If you’re working alone, grab a large soup can and stretch the opening of the nylon across it:

This will enable you to fill it with concrete without spilling it everywhere.  Alternatively, have someone hold the top of the nylons open for you.  Spoon in the concrete and make sure it gets worked right down to the bottom of the nylon.

Wiggle and pat the concrete to shape it into a firm little ball shape.  Tie the nylon at the top of the concrete, to keep it securely in the ball shape:

Cut three pieces of twine or thin rope and arrange in a wheel spoke shape, like this:

Then place the ball of concrete in the center of the rope spoke:

Tie the ends at the top of the pumpkin, cinching tightly to create grooves in the ball shape – this is what will make the ball of concrete look like a pumpkin!  Make sure you pick sturdy string/twine for this because you need to pull pretty firmly to get the concrete ball to cinch up.

Let the concrete dry for 24-48 hours – the drying time will depend on the humidity/temperature (and type of concrete).

For faster drying time, let them dry outside for a few hours and then bring inside, but place on a plastic garbage bag or inside a rubbermaid tote because they can be a little wet and leaky.  Once the concrete pumpkins are dry and feel hard to the touch, cut the string and the top of the nylon with scissors and remove the nylon.  It should peel off very easily.  Rinse off any residue with a hose and let the concrete dry again, for another 24-48 hours.  If you’d like to make your concrete pumpkin very smooth, you can also lightly sand the surface of the concrete and then rinse again.

To make a pumpkin stem, you can purchase resin or plastic stems from Amazon, or use a little piece of driftwood or a branch.  I opted for rope, because I had a little scrap on hand.  Simply hot glue your DIY pumpkin stem of choice to the top of the pumpkin.

Isn’t this DIY concrete pumpkin idea just the cutest fall decor?

I really want to make a bunch of these outdoor DIY concrete pumpkins and pile them up the stairs leading to my deck because this is such an easy DIY project.  These are super cute for Halloween or fall front porch decor because they’re super durable.  I left my concrete skulls votive holders from last year outside and they weathered just fine.  One note: because they dried flat on the ground, these DIY concrete pumpkins have flat bums so they don’t stack super easily.  If you wanted them to stack, I’d recommend letting them dry already stacked how you’d like so once they harden, they will fit together like a little puzzle.

Looking for More DIY Concrete Home Decor Ideas?

If you’re worried you might have leftover concrete, try these other DIY concrete home decor ideas – I clearly love concrete crafts:

• DIY Concrete Skull Candle Holders
• DIY Concrete Bowl with Embedded Amethyst

Want More DIY Fall Decor & Halloween Ideas?

Here are some of my favorite past projects for DIY Halloween and DIY fall decor!

• DIY Gradient Pumpkin Wreath
• DIY Marbled Pumpkins
• DIY Rhinestone Pumpkins
• Pumpkin Spice S’mores
• DIY Felt Leaf Garland
• DIY Ghostly Rat Wreath
• DIY Beaded Spider Wreath
• DIY Chalk Paint Pumpkins
• 15 Modern Way to Decorate a Pumpkin

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