Terracotta Finish Painted DIY Concrete Pumpkins

I know it’s September, but are you looking for fall decor that you can leave out August through October? Cement pumpkins have a cool rustic look that make old foam pumpkins look brand new.  Using the baking soda trick to acrylic craft paint to create a rustic faux finish, it really gives it a fun organic texture and a great way to mimic a cement or concrete look. With this Painted DIY Concrete Pumpkin project, we’re going to use the trash to terracotta paint technique and a little faux finishing to create these fun, concrete looking pumpkins for indoor fall display. It really gives them a new look! We used craft foam pumpkins, but you could also paint this on plastic or resin pumpkins too.

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Faux Terracotta Finish Concrete Pumpkins Supplies

To create your faux concrete pumpkins, you are going to need:

-Faux pumpkins from the craft store or dollar tree

-Craft paint (I used DecoArt Slate Gray, Titanium White, Hauser Medium Green and Burnt Umber.) It must be flat paint for a matte finish

-Brushes

-Baking soda

-Water

-Brushes

-Paper towels

Create Your Terracotta Concrete Mix

Mix a 1:2 part ratio of craft paint to baking soda in a cup or small bucket. Normally for a trash to terra cotta painted project you would use a 50/50 mixture, but for the concrete look we want it to be a little thicker and grittier, so more baking soda is needed. The end texture should resemble the texture of hummus  or floor grout when mixed.

Paint Your Faux Pumpkin

Paint your faux pumpkins with a wide, soft brush, covering every surface including the stem at the end. Let the brush create some texture, this helps it look even more like cement. I set mine on an upside down cup rim to dry so there’s less surface area touching the bottom. After the top dries completely, it may then need to be placed on it’s side to let the rest of the underside dry. I know it seems like a crazy idea, but they are so cool when they are dry! If you’re looking for the smooth look of a creamy orange terracotta pumpkin, check out this post.

Make sure to even paint the pumpkin stem for a realistic concrete pumpkin look! These faux painted pumpkins really look like real concrete pumpkins when they are dry! This is one of those great projects you can bring out year after year.

Paint over the Dried Concrete Pumpkin Faux Finish

Once the terracotta paint is dry, mix a 50/50 mixture of the Slate Gray and Burnt Umber paint. Brush this over the top of the pumpkin, but don’t cover the gray underneath completely. You want that to peek out to give it a more realistic cement look.

Add A Mossy Look With Paint

Let than paint layer dry. Take a damp paper towel and dip it in a little of the moss green paint to water it down slightly.Rub it over the surface o d the pumpkin to give it a mossy look. You can skip this step if you just want it to be straight concrete and  not look aged.

Dry Brush White Paint On The Top

Finally, with a little white paint, dry brush the surface so the white paint picks up the highlighted areas ( a dry brush means to dip it in a little white paint, and remove most of it on a paper towel before putting it on the pumpkin.). This will give it that concrete “bloom”. Brush it over as much or as little as you like.

 

Let the Terracotta Concrete Paint Completely Dry for 24 Hours

Let the pumpkins dry completely for 24 hours before using. This will give the terracotta paint a chance to harden up, then display in your fall decor! These would be so fun stacked on a covered porch. And since they aren’t very Halloweeny, you could leave them up all the way through November.

Looking for more fall DIY’s and inspiration? Try this easy acrylic sunflower painting. They are just enough of a touch without rushing the season!