You don't necessarily need a grand plan to have a successful fall arrangement on your front porch or in the middle of your kitchen table. A grouping of like objects (in this case, pumpkins and gourds) is visually interesting and can satisfy your eye all on their own.
I use the photo above as an example, which was photographed by me at the Country Living Fair on Columbus, Ohio. A jumble of pumpkins, gourds and squash looks perfect just as it is. Yes, they spaced the light green and deep orange gourds evenly throughout the pile, but it still looks natural.
If the display looked like they were placed by type or color, or if a sprig of maple leaves were tucked in every open space, the arrangement would look contrived...as if the pumpkins weren't pretty enough just as they are. I show you this to instill confidence that you can put together your own fall display without a lot of angst.
On the other hand, you can plan to buy only one color of squash and gourds and make a big impact that way as well. These gourds and squash in varying shades of gray-green are gorgeous and do all of the design work for you. Set them together and they speak volumes.
I thought you might like to refer to this Pumpkin and Squash Identification Chart so that you can drop the name of the unusual pumpkin everyone is admiring. I happen to have a "Great White" on my front table this year. Love it!
If you are in Southeastern Michigan, Maple View Farm is open on Saturdays and has a beautiful variety of designer pumpkins.
This is my idea of a Halloween display. I love kids; I love candy. But somewhere after that my interest in Halloween drops like a rock. In order to be "me" this time of year, I let my world revolve around pretty gourds, yummy pumpkin recipes and leave the spooky stuff to everyone else.
Remember my white pumpkin display on the front table last year? So pretty!
This year I chose a "Galeux d'Eysines." When I looked it up on a Pumpkin Identification chart, I thought it was fitting that I had inadvertently selected a French heirloom variety, as I have been spending every waking moment writing/editing/adoring my next book, "Paris: Delight in the City of Light." My mind is all Paris all the time these days and it is spilling into the rest of my life. Magnifique!
I found the scalloped paper mat at a scrapbook store (!) and it is called "Kitchen Spice Jasmine Die Cut" by Bo Bunny. Could anything look more perfect under my little mushroom still life?
I found the work of artist Krys Kirkpatrick within the Earth Angels booth at the Country Living magazine's Country Fair last month. When I saw this soft sculpture mushroom on a Japanese-paper wrapped platform, I was mesmerized. I truly couldn't stop looking at it. There is even a multi-layer pale green paper moth resting on the moss at the base. I brought it home and have been loving it ever since. This is art.
October is flying by...I can prove it because I almost typed September! Yikes, almost off by a whole month.
I don't know where the time is going, but one thing is for certain...I need gourds! I took this photograph at Country Living magazine's Country Fair and it has me wanting an unusual shape & color for my front table.
I am actually going to buy one at a specialty grocery store! I would love to roam the pumpkin patch on a bright October day, but I don't have time this year.
Convenience reins and I will simply pay "by the pound" and put it in my shopping cart. Once it is home on display, I can forget all about the fact that I bought it along with my mundane grocery list!
Selective Memory can be a wonderful thing.
I think this is just beautiful! A simple tower made of three different pumpkins.
There are so many beautiful squash and pumpkin varieties available - check out this link to see my favorite photo guide of them on the web.
Do you know the phrase "Gilding the Lily?" It refers to when unnecessary adornment is added to something that is naturally beautiful.I have seen some "paint, carve and glue" tips swirling around and I would like to suggest that you keep it simple.
Just gather a few beautiful shades together and let them speak for themselves. Mother Nature will spark far more comments than anything you can do with a glue gun.
Halloween is Friday and pumpkins are everywhere! Have you been looking for a great pumpkin? You can identify some of the more unusual varieties with this pumpkin ID chart. I love decorating white-on-white, so I always buy a "Casper White" for my front table.This weekend, I baked pumpkin-shaped cookies for the Junior League of Birmingham's community event called Pumpkin Patch. They offer games, face painting, crafts and treats to help celebrate Fall. It ends with a costume parade around the town - so sweet!
There are so many spectacular varieties of pumpkins & squash at the farm stands right now, I thought that this Pumpkin ID chart would be fun to include. I really like "Cinderella" named for its magical coach quality. And have you seen the new battery operated votives? They are perfect for lighting your jack-o-lantern safely. And for the holidays...Battery operated votives work just as well in paper bag luminaries. Right now mine are flickering inside 3 mercury glass votives - beautiful.
