Autumn decor with pumpkins: bowls, groups and dried materials

For an autumn decoration with pumpkins, start from a single focal point: a filled bowl in the middle of the table, or a group of three pumpkins on a sideboard. Add moss, wood and pine cones around it. Keep everything dry and out of direct sun. Here is how to arrange it, and how to keep the pumpkins looking good.

Real pumpkins or dried pumpkins

Our autumn decorations are not all made of the same thing. Here is what each product page says.

For the set of 3 mini pumpkins, the supplier does not say whether they are real pumpkins. All these pumpkins are sold as decoration: they are not edible.

Four ways to arrange them

1. 1

   The filled bowl, in the middle of the table

   The bowl is already arranged. It goes in the middle of a table, on a sideboard or on a coffee table. At 8 cm tall, it does not block the view between guests.

   The large bowl is 29 cm in diameter. It suits a table for six people or more. The 20 cm bowl goes on a small table, a console table or a bedside table.

   The pieces are simply laid in place. You can move them, or add a few pumpkins from another set.

2. 2

   Three pumpkins, three sizes

   Three pumpkins of different sizes make a group. The Hokkaido set brings together three colours: an orange-red Hokkaido of about 17 cm, an almost black-green Black Cat and a white one, each about 12 cm.

   • Place the largest at the back, and the two small ones in front, one on each side.
   • Bring them close together: they should almost touch.
   • Leave empty space around them: a group needs room to breathe.

   The set weighs about 2.9 kg. Place it on a stable piece of furniture, not on a thin shelf.

3. 3

   A windowsill or a shelf

   Small pumpkins go where a bowl would take up too much room. Line up the five pumpkins from the net on a windowsill, or spread them across the shelves of a shelf unit. Their colours vary with the harvest: each net is a little different.

   The three mini pumpkins, green, orange and dark red, slip in between green plants. Their colours go well with the foliage.

   If the windowsill is in full sun, choose another spot. Direct sun fades natural colours.

4. 4

   Your own bowl

   The dried assortment contains everything for an arrangement: 13 pumpkins, a bonsai wood branch, pine cones and a 30 × 20 cm sheet of flat moss. All you need is a container: a bowl, a tray or a wooden board.

   1. Lay the flat moss at the bottom. It forms the green ground of the decoration.
   2. Lay the branch across it. It gives a line and a little height.
   3. Group the pumpkins in threes or fives, rather than one by one.
   4. Fill the gaps with the pine cones.

   The assortment also goes in an open terrarium planted with succulents. Never in a closed jar: the humidity would make the decoration go mouldy. To build this kind of terrarium, follow our succulent terrarium tutorial.

Keeping real pumpkins looking good

A real pumpkin is a fruit. It changes over time. Our suppliers give no keeping time: it depends on each fruit and on the room it is in. Here is what helps.

• Dry, cool, out of direct sun. This is what our product pages ask.
• Handle with care. The University of Illinois extension service points out that a scratch on the skin lets germs in, and the fruit spoils faster.
• Do not carry a pumpkin by its stem. The same source advises against it.
• Do not stack them. Set them in a single layer, so air can circulate.
• Check them from time to time. A pumpkin that softens or leaks comes out of the group.

Between two displays, the same university advises a cool, dark place, between about 10 and 15 °C.

Dried materials: always kept dry

The dried pumpkins, the flat moss, the wood and the pine cones need no care. They only fear humidity.

• Keep them indoors, away from a bathroom or a sink.
• Do not water them and do not mist them.
• Store them in a dry box after the season. The product page for the assortment says it keeps from one season to the next if it stays dry.

A candle beside it

Dried moss, wood and pine cones catch fire easily. Health Canada asks that combustible decorations be kept away from candles, and that a lit candle never be left unattended.

• Put the candle in a stable candle holder, next to the decoration, never in the middle.
• For a candle in the heart of the bowl, choose an LED candle.

For the rules on distance and safety at the table, see our guide to the Christmas table centrepiece.

From autumn to Christmas

At the end of autumn, keep the moss, the wood and the pine cones. Take out the pumpkins, and add candle holders or a small terrarium. The same tray serves for a second season. More ideas are in our Christmas decor gift ideas.

In short

1. Start from a single focal point: a filled bowl or a group of three pumpkins.
2. Read the product page: some pumpkins are real, others dried.
3. Keep everything dry, cool and out of direct sun.
4. Handle real pumpkins with care, without stacking them.
5. No flame in the middle of dried materials: a candle beside it, or an LED candle.

Sources

• Preserve your pumpkins this fall by following these simple tips, University of Illinois Extension
• Sécurité-incendie chez vous, Health Canada (in French)
• Supplier data sheets (contents of the bowls and sets, dimensions, storage)