How to make concrete mushrooms

Concrete mushrooms are a great DIY garden statue idea to bring some whimsy to your garden. These make a great Mother’s Day gift of birthday present too!

I’m lucky enough that I have to come up with gifts for our anniversary, my wife’s birthday and Mother’s Day all in the span of a month. It’s not easy.

Luckily, Mother’s Day gifts are best if they are handmade, so all you need is some fun ideas for things to make.

Here’s some of our best woodworking Mother’s Day gift ideas!

This year, my kids and I found a great idea on TikTok from @DadAdviceFromBo where he showed us how to make DIY concrete mushrooms for the garden. Morgan is a huge fan of garden statues, so I knew this would be a fun idea for the kids to make.

If you want to see the video of my kids and I making these mushrooms, check it out here!

DIY concrete mushrooms

DIY concrete mushrooms are really easy to make, even for preschoolers. There are a few steps that they can’t really participate in, but you can show them how you are doing it and figure out ways to get them involved!

Here’s some other great handmade Mother’s Day gift ideas!

Materials needed:

• 1 bag of fast setting concrete
• Bucket
• Shovel
• Multiple colors of spray paint
• Small round stickers
• Plastic sheeting
• (1) 3″ screw per mushroom
• Branches about 3″ wide

How to make concrete mushroom garden art

Here’s the easy steps to make concrete mushrooms for your garden!

I made this terrazzo side table with concrete years ago and love it!

Step one: dig hole

Start by digging a shallow hole for each of the mushrooms you’re going to make. The hole should be a couple of inches deep at the center and maybe about 8-9 inches around.

Then, lay a piece of plastic sheeting in the hole as this will help you get the mushroom up and keep it clean.

Step two: mix and pour concrete

Next, mix up the concrete. Pour the concrete mix into a bucket and add water. I always say that concrete needs to be the consistency of wet peanut butter and it’s easier to add more water than to take water out.

Mix up the concrete until you have a good consistency and then pour it into each hole. Use a piece of scrap wood to smooth out the concrete.

Step three: add screw

With the concrete in the ground, stick a screw into the center of the concrete with the head of the screw in the mix.

You may need to make sure to push the concrete back around the screw to make sure it’s in place. Have about 2″ of the screw sticking out and then let the concrete solidify for 24 hours.

Step four: paint base layer

After the concrete is hardened, remove the mushroom tops from the holes and flip them upside down. I put mine on top of a cardboard box with the screw through the box to keep them in place.

Spray a base layer of spray paint on each mushroom and keep in mind that this color is going to be the color of your mushroom’s spots, not the color of the mushroom itself.

Step five: add stickers and paint second layer

After the spray paint is dry, take the round stickers and place them all over the mushroom top. This is great for the kids because they can create their own design.

Then, take a different spray paint color and paint over the mushroom tops again.

Once the paint is dry on that, use those little kid fingers to remove all of the stickers, revealing the spots on top of the mushroom.

Step six: cut stem

While the paint is drying one day, go on a little hike in the woods and find some sticks for each mushroom to rest on. They need to be about one foot in length and about 3″ thick.

When you get home, cut them to length, drill a hole in one end for the screw to fit inside, and cut down a point on the other end.

Step seven: “plant” in garden

When the mushrooms are finished drying, use a hammer or mallet and knock the pointed end of the stem into the ground where you want the mushrooms to go.

Then, insert the screw on the underside of the mushroom top into the hole of the stem and twist it into place. Then you’re done!

DIY concrete mushroom garden art

My wife loved how these concrete mushrooms turned out! They were a huge hit with her and a lot of fun to make with the kids!

These concrete mushrooms are a great way to get your kids involved in making DIY presents and teaching them about how to build things.

These mushrooms will be in our garden for a long time!