Fabulous Fall Decorating Ideas

Simple and rustic, this quick-to-make arrangement delivers what Southern Living floral genius Buffy Hargett Miller calls "an easy wow."

How To Do It:
Wrap twine several times around votive holders(similar votives here) and colorful fall leaves, and then secure with a knot. To construct different heights, top the votives with varying numbers of small white pumpkins. Add a touch more autumn dazzle to your display with this simple addition: Gather an assortment of colorful fall leaves, and use wire to fasten them to a length of rope to form a beautiful seasonal garland. Using temporary adhesive hooks, attach the garland to your mantel.

Bring fall into your foyer with a simple tablescape.

How To Do It:
Pick a few branches of colorful fall leaves, and arrange simply in a tall glass vase filled with water. From this bold focal point, build out the rest of your tabletop display. Gather an array of seasonal gourds in a mix of colors, sizes, and textures for variety. Stack flat gourds of graduated sizes, and top with a large glass cloche (available at crafts stores or online). Fill another smaller glass cloche with bleached pinecones, and invert; we used it to top one of our flatter pumpkins, but feel free to improvise. Add a potted plant (we used a small olive tree) to the arrangement for texture. Place small gourds around the larger items, and scatter more bright fall leaves along the table.

A smart mix of green tones, white, and flashes of fall color make this centerpiece feel like a fresh, modern cornucopia.

How To Do It:
Take a round or oval container, and fill it with potting soil. Plant a mix of succulents (such as echeverias) toward the center of the bowl, leaving plenty of room around the edges. Nestle small orange and white pumpkins into the soil. Add seasonal vegetables like kale, radishes, and eggplants. Use bundles of fresh herbs (such as rosemary and sage) to fill in any gaps. Surround with more pumpkins and votives.

Feel free to skip the container and scatter the votives anywhere that could use a little fall glow.

How To Do It:
Fill a rustic container two-thirds full of water. Use a craft knife to trace circles a little larger than the bottom of a tea light into the orange mini pumpkins. Cut and carve out the circles to allow a candle to fit inside comfortably. Insert tea lights. Float pumpkin votives as well as whole pumpkins in water. Using the photo as a guide, add bright fall leaves and sprigs of herbs for color and texture.

White pumpkins add an unexpected and elegant twist.

The 25-Minute Wreath:
Start with a store-bought grapevine wreath. Pick an odd number of white mini pumpkins. Attach pumpkins to florist picks, and then work the picks into the wreath, making sure to space them evenly. Secure pumpkins to the wreath with wire. Using additional florist picks, attach seasonal greenery (we used smilax) and bittersweet (available at your local garden center), filling in the spaces between pumpkins. Add an assortment of fall leaves to wreath with picks and wire for a colorful finish.

Raid your kitchen cabinets to gather the elements for this fragrant display.

How To Do It:
Start with three bowls of graduated sizes. Place wet florist foam in each bowl, and trim, as necessary, so the top of the foam is even with the top of each bowl. Stack the bowls with the largest on the bottom. Using florist picks, secure white pumpkins and artichokes in an asymmetrical arrangement to the foam of each level. Take a mix of fresh herb and pepper plants out of their pots, and wrap in plastic bags so they can be replanted later. Attach berries (we used brunia) to florist picks. Working one side at a time, use herbs, peppers, and berries to fill in the spaces between the pumpkins and the artichokes. If desired, create smaller accent pieces with single bowls, sprigs of herbs, and individual pumpkins. 

What do you get when you combine the fun of a pumpkin with the beauty of a mum? A "mumkin," of course! Fill smaller gourds with containers of pansies to create a trio of trusty sidekicks.

Get the Step-by-Step: Mumkin Container

We'll show you how to whip up a striking seasonal tableau with bright green apples at its core. Trust us, this one's easier than it looks.

Watch the full tutorial: The 10-Minute Fall Apple Centerpiece
 

The key to arranging leaves is to group them by size and color as you would flowers. Fiery red maple makes a beautiful focal point when countered with the feathery foliage of dawn redwood laden with globes of gray-green fruit on the fringes.

There's a reason you see mums each fall—they work. Once buds begin to open, you're guaranteed blooms whether your display is in sun or shade. To prolong the show, water when dry and remove spent flowers. Pair with Mexican sage and boxwoods for this stunning display.

For a quick and easy approach, group your favorite tiny pumpkins on a side table, and let the collection speak for itself. There is no right or wrong way to create this display. This arrangement looks unintentional, adding a carefree, casual seasonal touch.

To make this arrangement, choose your favorite pumpkin (we like the flat-bottomed Fairytale) and pick up some violas, pansies, red and green leaf lettuce, thyme, and rosemary to decorate. Clean the pumpkin with a Clorox wipe, cut a hole in the top, and scoop out seeds. Line with aluminum foil or a plastic bag, and fill three-quarters full with potting soil and plants. We used Sorbet violas and Crystal Bowl pansies.

Simple white plates paired with timeless flatware and thin stemware keep this more rustic setting looking elegant. Bold orange napkins give the setting a pop of seasonal color.

Display oranges studded with dried whole cloves for a festive and fragrant addition to your fall decor.

Topped with silver serving pieces, pale gray and green pumpkins add interesting height to your buffet.

Vertical displays make a big statement at the front door. Tucking in cool-weather edibles such as ornamental flowering cabbages, kale, and bay leaves adds a distinctive twist. To create topiaries, sandwich bay wreaths between pumpkins stacked in concrete urns, and top with a small pumpkin.

Print out individual words on tabs, and fold them around twine. Weave the twine along the center of the table.

To arrange the perfect Southern table, keep these tips in mind:

• In the napkin arena, nothing's nicer than a generous 22-inch hemstitched piece of white linen, monogrammed and crisply ironed.
• Create a look that is "uniquely you" by combining simple stemware with more decorative china, or vice versa.
• Try to incorporate as much vintage silver as you can find - they add sparkle to a table.
• Don't forget to set place cards with your own handwriting for a personal touch.

Transform mini pumpkins into luminarias by cutting a 1-inch-wide circle into each pumpkin, scooping out the centers with a tablespoon, and inserting votive candles.

Peel off the labels of pickle and okra jars, and use a cord kit (paperlanternstore.com) to illuminate each one. Equipped with a dimmer and hung at varying heights, they provide the ideal mix of rustic and industrial.

Pair pumpkins with potted kale to create a warm welcome. Grace an entry with a garland made of clippings from the garden.

It’s simple to decorate pumpkins with just a few supplies from the hardware or crafts store. Create stylish seasonal decor with some gold and black paint and place them all around the house.

Naturally shed antlers lend a new twist to table decor. Pile them up with different-colored pumpkins, pine cones, and loose nuts and bring the outdoors in.

Double the impact of an arrangement by placing it in front of a mirror, like this one made from a barn window.

Arrange branches, dried grasses, moss, squash, and small pumpkins in a vase as you would a traditional flower display. Then, choose a single pumpkin with an interesting shape or a twisted stem to showcase. Place it on a smaller table or stool to help set it apart from the rest.

Gold metallic paint gives ordinary pumpkins a wow factor. Stick round labels on a pumpkin and trace the shape with a pencil. Remove the labels and paint inside the traced circles with gold paint. For another effect, apply labels to pumpkin, and then cover entire pumpkin in gold paint. Remove the labels when paint is dry.

Construct an easy-to-assemble Indian corn garland beginning with a piece of sisal rope. If you like, dye it dark brown or a golden maize shade. Wrap it with broomcorn, corn tassels (stalks are available at farmers markets), or other dried grasses. Place corn along the rope single file or gathered in bundles of three. Wire corn securely in place, and then tie raffia on top for a finishing touch. Hang your garland across a door or from your mantel.

Don't limit yourself to just traditional orange in your display. Orange and yellow pumpkins really pop when mixed with bright greens. Try using small green plants as well as gourds and squash with green tones.

For an elegant fall dinner, emphasize the beauty of the meal by serving it on gold and glass dinnerware.

To make these festive party decorations, pick up a carving or soft-skinned pumpkin, an awl (pointed tool), and some cut mums. Using the awl, poke a hole in the pumpkin and fill it in with a mum stem. Repeat this process until the entire pumpkin is covered. To help extend its life, keep this decoration in the refrigerator until party time.

Terrariums are an easy way to grow plants indoors. Start by choosing a clear glass container with a wide opening. Gently add fine gravel to your container. Top with a thin layer of aquarium charcoal. (Both of these items can be purchased at a pet store.) Then add moist potting soil. These miniature landscapes can hold a collection of colorful plants for display or just show off one plant. Good choices include ferns, peperomias, succulents, begonias, Irish moss, miniature orchids, kalanchoes, and African violets.

Go for a mod look with a gold rectangle pattern. Then group painted pumpkins by the fireplace for added shimmer.

Celebrate the bounty of fall with multiple show-stopping arrangements. Orchids, lotus pods, rose hips, and cattails brighten this dining room.

Announce your address in style by cleverly etching your house number (or your initials or name) into a pumpkin. You can pile a combination of traditional and heirloom pumpkins on your front steps, and top with your etched design.

Etching will leave an artful design on your pumpkin. The technique allows your pumpkin to last longer and is less messy than traditional carving.

Fill wicker-wrapped wine jugs with clipped fig leaves and spread them out along a table.

Choose a  smooth, flat-skinned pumpkin, and begin by coating with a base of black acrylic paint. Then, using the lines of the pumpkin as your guide, dress it up with gold painted stripes.

A neutral backdrop of white linens and dishes puts the focus on punches of orange and green.

A cascading display down the stairs allows you to use bigger ones that have more presence and are visible from the road. Position them on their sides or stack them on planters for an original look.

A coat of metallic gold spray paint upgrades a grouping of glass candlesticks (thrift store finds!) and heaps of large North Carolina apples.

Upholstery tacks lend a graphic look to plain white pumpkins. Mix up the sizes and shapes of the tacks to create different patterns.

Easy-care succulents, such as sedums, echeverias, crassulas, and more, are all the rage. To display your faves, punch three holes in the bottom of a boot tray with a hammer and large nail. Fill the tray about three-fourths full with a premoistened mix of 3 parts potting soil and 1 part sand. Position two or three bricks in the center. Plant an assortment of succulents shoulder to shoulder around them. Fill crevices with Scotch or Irish moss, which thrives in well-drained soil in sun or part shade, as do succulents. Top the bricks with pumpkins. Water when the soil is dry to the touch. This display will withstand light freezing temperatures, so it's okay to keep it outdoors.

• Watch how to make this arrangement

A stark color contrast gives your fireplace mantel an animated, playful feel, and the branches and moss add height and dimension. Use small containers in a black or dark wood finish along with items such as horns, crooked sticks, and Spanish moss. The darker colors will help the bright orange pumpkins stand out.

Your fall decor is incomplete until you've hung something colorful on the door! Make this seasonal broom badge by grouping millet, dried hydrangeas, salvia, rose hips, and sorghum.

How To Make It: Broom Door Badge

Feel free to take a more natural approach with your pumpkin decorating and skip the spiderwebs and jack-o-lanterns. Simply carve a hole in a pumpkin and fill up with your favorite fall blooms.

Complete your tablescape by adding candles in fun lanterns that complement your color palatte. Mix in simple canning jars for a more casual affair.

Black and white 'Lumina,' 'Moonshine,' and 'Jarrahdale' pumpkins set a mysterious air in your garden. Cluster them on your steps or pile them up on a table. If you can't find white or gray pumpkins locally, try spray paint. We like using Design Master Colortool sprays (dmcolor.com).

Write the name of each guest on a leaf place card attached to a little felted acorn that doubles as a fun party favor. Scatter loose felted acorns—or real ones—up and down the table to play up the natural theme.

Choose an assortment of small pumpkins and squash in muted colors that complement the surrounding style of your fireplace mantel. Bring in other items from around your home that you wouldn’t normally think to pair with pumpkins, such as julep cups and old books covered in elegant paper. The key is to keep the look simple by sticking to the same basic color tones.

Take the Thanksgiving feast outdoors. But don’t host your friends and family on folding chairs and paper plates―bring the good stuff outside. Surprise guests with a perfectly set table in the garden.

• See a step-by-step guide for making this floral arrangement

Create a pumpkin stack using a footed pot, dry sphagnum moss, and three pumpkins in your favorite colors and in graduated sizes. Use moss to level the pumpkins as you stack them, trimming stems, if necessary.

This buffet of sweets features store-bought goodies that guests of all ages will enjoy. For a unified look, place desserts on a collection of white cake stands and platters.

Look to an heirloom china pattern for inspiration, like this palette of champagne and gold with subtle touches of pink. Don't be afraid to combine old with new, traditional with modern, and heirloom with inexpensive.

The plumes of eye-catching purple fountain grass become more numerous as fall nears. Flank it with another explosive favorite, 'Fireworks' gomphrena, which is great in the ground or a pot. Add three 'Bandana Red' lantanas for bright blooms and two 'Margarita' sweet potato vines to trail.

Create a functional but beautiful sideboard by grouping simple fall arrangements, like these bouquets of orange dahlias, red and yellow roses, and calla lilies, with festive plates and serverware.

For an arrangement that will last through Thanksgiving, place a potted oncidium orchid in a large, lined cachepot, and surround it with water-soaked florist foam. Insert cut fall foliage into the foam along with dried crepe myrtle pods and rose hips. Then add stems of orange dendrobiums in water-filled florist tubes.

Host a stylish autumn get-together without breaking the bank by recycling things around the house. You can fill an oversize jug with branches of leaves cut from the yard for a free centerpiece.

To accent the door knocker, zip-tie two crookneck gourds together, and then zip-tie them to a foam-core oval about 5 inches long. Cover ties with ribbon. Working at an angle, hot-glue sprigs of coontie palm, croton, holly fern, asparagus fern, and abelia to cover the foam core. Loop wire through one of the back ties, and hang above the door knocker. The hardy foliage will last about two weeks in cool weather and can be replaced.

To make the pumpkin-and-gourd wreath, first cover a 20-inch foam form with sheet moss, using a glue gun to hold the moss in place. Loop a 3-inch-wide burlap ribbon over the wreath to create a hanger long enough so it can reach the top of the door and allow the wreath to hang at eye level. Insert wooden florist picks into the bottoms of pumpkins and gourds, and hot-glue the connection to secure. Once the glue has cooled, stick pumpkins and gourds into the wreath. Fill in with more moss, using a glue gun. To hang the wreath, secure the burlap ribbon with an upholstery tack hammered into the top edge of the door.

To make it, secure a handful of dried grass plumes, such as millet or miscanthus, with a rubber band. Add a rock to a vintage apple-picking bag so it hangs correctly, and then tuck in the grass.

Combine the season's hottest hues in a vibrant mix of 'Snapshot Orange' snapdragons, 'Purple Pixie' loropetalum, and bright 'Penny Clear Yellow' violas. Tuck in the showy foliage of 'Sparkling Burgundy' heuchera to complete the look.

• See more of this Vibrant Fall Container Garden