7 Clever Ways to Use Pumpkins in Fall Decor

Pumpkins for fall are like florals for spring—classic and timeless. It just wouldn’t feel like fall without a pile of pumpkins and gourds on the porch! However, adding some creative, modern twists to these seasonal staples never hurts, and we have a few ideas to inspire you.

Gourds Done Differently: Make Your Fall Decor Stand Out from the Rest

Pumpkins and gourds come in so many sizes, shapes, colors, and textures; this makes them so versatile for indoor and outdoor decor! Here are seven creative ways to incorporate these charming little plants into your seasonal stylings.

Gourd-geous Grazing Tables

A grazing table is basically just one giant charcuterie board spread all across a tabletop; they’re so much fun to put together, and tiny pumpkins and ornamental gourds are the perfect accents to fill up all the gaps! Make sure you’ve got all the essentials: fancy cheeses, crackers, spreads, olives and meats, plus all the other bite-sized party snacks you love. Add some bundles of foliage cuttings and a few candles, and you have a swanky party spread that looks straight out of a magazine.

Glitter and Gold

Glitter is coming back in a big way. If you’re hesitant to rub it all over your eyes and cheeks, just coat your pumpkins instead! A little bit of metallic paint and glitter can go a long way. You don’t have to coat the whole thing—just add some subtle accents to add dimension and definition. Try a splatter effect, pour-over paint, or a cool custom design with chunky, colorful sparkles. Mix in your embellished pumpkins with a few plain ones for a balanced look.

Create a Pumpkin Vase

Hollow out a pumpkin, insert a vase inside, and create a custom assortment of beautiful fall flowers! It’s a perfect DIY fall centerpiece for the living room or dining table. For extra oomph, you can paint the pumpkin in a color that matches the palette of your cut flower arrangement. Make sure you change the water every two days to keep things fresh! If you have any favorite houseplants that you’d like to showcase, you can use a hollow pumpkin as a decorative container to drop your plant inserts into, then move them back after the season.

Our succulent-topped pumpkins are an excellent choice if you’re looking for a professionally designed addition to your fall decor! Each pumpkin is hand-selected and matched with the complementary succulents for the perfect aesthetic.

Make Your Porch Pop

When you hear pumpkin, you think orange—but there are so many more colorful varieties to choose from! This year, we’re loving muted palettes with light grays, sage greens, and dusty blues. That cool, contemporary color palette will look amazing on your porch. Even though it’s an understated palette on its own, it will totally pop against the golden scenery surrounding us.

Day of the Dead Decor

Día de los Muertos celebrations are November 1st and 2nd—all the more reason to leave our spooky decorations out for longer! Instead of the traditional jack-o-lantern, try painting pumpkins with Day of the Dead sugar skull faces. The brighter, the better—you can even hollow out the pumpkin and fill it with flowers so your sugar skull can wear a pretty flower crown!

Mini Pumpkins and Gourd Candle Holders

Those teeny tiny pumpkins and gourds are the perfect size to hold candles. Use a sharp knife to remove the stem and scoop out a hole that’s big enough to fit a tealight candle. Scatter a few across the dining table for a beautiful evening glow. If you use a slightly heavier gourd, you can add tall taper candles instead of tealights—just make sure they’re stable and won’t tip over!

Make It Gothic! Bold Pumpkins Are In

Embrace your inner Morticia Addams with bold, black-painted pumpkins! While these make a grand statement, they are still elegant and can add depth to your front porch arrangements. They perfectly accent dried corn stalks, muted-toned gourds, and neutral-toned decor.

Eco-Friendly Tip: If your pumpkins aren’t coated in candle wax, paint or glitter, then, by all means, toss them in the compost bin! Lots of pumpkins end up in the landfill every year, and you’re much better off turning them into compost to feed your spring garden. Or if you have an earthworm bin for your kitchen scraps, pumpkins are perfect. Just cut them up into a few smaller pieces and feed them in. The worms will quickly turn them into nutritious compost for your garden.

Stock up on cute and colorful gourds, pumpkins, and fall decor in Orange County by visiting Roger’s Gardens. Nothing makes us feel creatively inspired like a stroll through the garden center!

For more information about pumpkins, view: Roger's Pumpkin Harvest, Various New Pumpkins Varieties at Roger's, How to Decorate Your Front Porch with Grays and Gourds and How to Decorate a Pumpkin with Succulents or read more at: Our Heirloom Pumpkins, Squash & Gourds and Pumpkin Recipes.