I Made Giant DIY Garden Mushrooms

Apparently you can just make giant DIY garden mushrooms.
Which feels like information I probably shouldn’t have been given.

I’ve been slowly turning my yard into the kind of place that feels slightly less like western Pennsylvania and a lot more like somewhere you’d wander into in a book and make a series of questionable decisions.

Naturally, it needed mushrooms.
Not little mushroom decorations, though. Giant ones.

How I Made Giant DIY Garden Mushrooms

First, gather as many different-sized bowls as you can find. Seriously. Mixing bowls, serving bowls, whatever has a mushroom-ish shape and you’re willing to temporarily sacrifice to the cause. Different sizes and depths are what make the finished mushrooms look like they actually belong together instead of like a small concrete army.

Step 1: Prep the Mushroom Caps

I lined each bowl with parchment paper before adding the concrete. It worked, but the parchment left some wrinkles in the finished caps.

Then TikTok did what TikTok occasionally does best and taught me something.

Someone suggested using plastic wrap and a hair dryer instead. The heat helps smooth the plastic against the inside of the bowl, which should give the concrete a smoother finish with fewer wrinkles.

I haven’t tested this method yet, so I can’t personally vouch for it—but I absolutely will on the next batch.

Because there will be a next batch. Obviously.

Step 2: Mix & Pour the Concrete

Mix your concrete according to the instructions on the bag. I used a large container so I had plenty of room to get everything thoroughly combined without turning myself and the surrounding area into a small construction site.

Once mixed, pour the concrete into your lined bowls.

Gently tap the bowls against the ground several times after pouring. This helps bring trapped air bubbles to the surface and allows the concrete to settle and level out inside the mold.

Then leave them alone for about an hour, or until the concrete has begun to firm up enough to support the stems.

Step 3: Add the Stems

While the concrete starts setting, go hunting for sticks.

I used thick, heavy-duty branches from the woods, roughly 2–3 feet long. Don’t use tiny little decorative twigs here. Once cured, these concrete caps are heavy, so you want something substantial enough to support them.

Once the concrete has started to set, carefully insert one stick into the center of each mushroom cap.

Then comes the difficult part:

Leave them alone.

I let mine set in the molds for approximately 24 hours.

Step 4: Release the Mushrooms

Once the concrete had turned gray and felt completely hard to the touch, I carefully popped each mushroom cap out of its bowl and removed the parchment.

And suddenly there were mushrooms.

Sort of.

Very gray, slightly wrinkly mushrooms, but we were getting somewhere.

I left them out of the molds for another 12 hours before painting because I wanted to make sure everything had plenty of time to harden.

Step 5: Paint Those Babies

Now for the fun part.

I used acrylic craft paint, and it worked beautifully. It covered the concrete well, was incredibly easy to work with, and dried quickly—which is excellent because we have already established that patience is not really part of my particular skill set.

This is also where you can make them completely your own.

Classic woodland mushrooms. Fairy-tale colors. Moody witchy mushrooms. Polka dots. Stars. Tiny crimes against tasteful landscaping.

It’s your forest.

Step 6: Plant Your Mushrooms

Once the paint was dry, they were ready for the garden.

I used a post-hole digger to make holes approximately 1 foot deep where I wanted each mushroom.

Then I lowered the wooden stem into the hole, packed the soil firmly back around it, and made sure everything felt stable.

And boom.

Whimsical giant garden mushrooms: loaded.

The DIY Garden Mushrooms are part of my ongoing attempt to transform my yard into something magickal. Check out the Moon Gate Tutorial here!

A note from the field: This is how I created my DIY Giant Concrete Mushrooms- not professional construction advice. Always follow the manufacturer’s instructions for the specific concrete, paint, and materials you use, wear appropriate protective gear, and make sure your finished mushrooms are securely installed—especially around children and pets.