Pumpkins can add a warm and homey touch to your decor throughout the fall, not just at Halloween. Consider these creative ideas for decorating with pumpkins.
All kinds of pumpkins
Today’s pumpkins come in a dazzling range of colors, from traditional bright orange to more muted orange tones, white, green and gray. Sizes vary, too: You can find anything from tiny pumpkins smaller than a fist to those large enough to win state fair blue ribbons. Moreover, artificial pumpkins in various materials enlarge your decorating possibilities. You can find man-made pumpkins painted in metallic colors or made from straw, fabric, concrete, metal and other materials.
Don’t forget the myriad shapes and colors of gourds and winter squash, which can add variety when you’re decorating with pumpkins.
Outside the house
You can decorate your home’s entry or front porch with pumpkins in early fall and keep the display going past Halloween. While jack-o’-lanterns are still essential for welcoming trick-or-treaters, uncut pumpkins will last longer and produce less mess.
Check out these ideas for decorating your home’s exterior with pumpkins.
- Carve your home address into a large pumpkin and fill it with a candle to place near your entry. Or paint your house number on a pumpkin in a contrasting color.
- Arrange lots of pumpkins of all shapes and colors down your front stairs. Or stick to one color for a different visual impact.
- Stack an odd number of pumpkins – three or five – in a planter, with the largest on the bottom and the smallest on top. Arrange these topiaries on either side of your front door, and fill in with fall foliage and colorful mums.
- Fill hollowed-out pumpkins with soil and use them as planters for succulents, mums, pansies or ornamental cabbages. You can also use this idea inside your home.
- Remove the top and insides of pumpkins, carve them with a fall foliage design or favorite sayings, and fill them with flameless votive candles. Arrange them on your front stairs to light the way into your home, or place them on an outdoor table.
- Go all out and adorn your porch with pumpkins of all shapes and sizes and gourds, hay bales, dried corn, mums and ornamental cabbages. Around Halloween, add a few spooky touches like ghosts and spider webs, then remove them in November so you can keep the display going till Thanksgiving. (You may need to replace some pumpkins as they age.)
- At Halloween, paint a pumpkin teal and place it at your front door to alert trick-or-treaters with food allergies that you have non-food treats to share.
Inside your house
You can bring the warmth and coziness of autumn into your home by decorating with pumpkins. Here are some ideas.
- With a coat of paint, pumpkins can be any color you want. Use small pumpkins painted in colors that coordinate with your decor to decorate your mantel or a tabletop.
- Use a mix of real pumpkins and man-made to create a striking table display. Add candles, and center the table with a glass container filled with branches covered with autumn leaves. Or fill a cornucopia to overflowing with pumpkins, gourds and fall fruits.
- Scatter pumpkins painted with inspiring words at Thanksgiving around your dining table or buffet.
- Paint tiny pumpkins with guests’ names to use as place cards at fall dinner parties.
- For a children’s table at Thanksgiving, use pumpkins decorated with paint, googly eyes or stickers for an age-appropriate centerpiece.
Related – Use Fall Favorites to Enhance Curb Appeal
