Creating The Perfect Pumpkin Arrangements & Fall Tablescapes For Sharing
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Fall is finally officially here, and I have been absolutely rejoicing over the gorgeous color changes within the leaves, crisp mornings calling for hot tea and snuggly sweaters dying to be worn. To celebrate this season, Charlie and I decided to invite over friends and family for hot chili, sweet cornbread and of course, a bonfire complete with hot chocolate, apple cider and smores.
When planning for this fall fest occasion, I immediately knew that I wanted to incorporate pumpkins into our table décor, because there are few things in life that conjure up such an immense love of the fall season. What I did not realize is that for some reason, after Halloween, pumpkins are almost nonexistent. The stores have fully brought on Christmas, and while I love Christmas with my whole heart, I do love a good fall celebration, especially when Christmas is still almost 2 MONTHS away. Seeing this, the only pumpkins that I could find were “pie pumpkins” which are sold by the pound and therefore probably rivaled some of the most expensive pumpkins I have bought all season.
So, for a word to the wise, try to buy pumpkins before Halloween.
Anyway… back to the pumpkin arrangements.
Growing up, my mom and I would occasionally make similar fall tablescapes by carving up a pumpkin and instead of a candle, filling it with flowers, using the pumpkin as the vase. Pumpkins create wonderful vases and give a lovely natural aesthetic while providing all the fall feels.
Step 1: Prepare your shopping list
Mine read as follows:
- 3 – small to medium pumpkins (~$10-$15)
- 1 – bag of mixed gourds (~$5)
- 2 – individual apples (~$1.60)
- 1 – block of wet floral Oasis (~$14.94 for 6 block pack – $2.49 per 1 block included in this design)
- 3 – taper candles ($1.79)
- Flowers and greenery (~$10.00 – I love the 3 for $10 flower special at my local grocery)
- Kitchen utensils – knife, cutting board, spoon, bowl, plastic grocery bag, paper towels
- Floral snips or scissors
Step 2: Prepare your workspace
Lay out your grocery bag to protect your counters from getting really messy and set your first pumpkin on the bag.
Next, fill your bowl with water and place 1 block of your floral foam within the water to fully soak through.
Step 3: Carving
Carve each of your pumpkins by cutting a circle around the stem and hollowing out all of the pumpkin insides with a spoon. Feel free to throw away the seeds and pulpy mixture, OR clean off the seeds and toast them; they make great snacks!
Step 4: Prepare floral foam for pumpkin vases
Once all 3 small to medium sized pumpkins have been carved and are fully cleaned out, wipe down with a paper towel to remove any slime or dirt on the exterior of the pumpkin (which will soon be your vase)
Having cleaned the pumpkin, take your block of floral foam out of the water and place it on the cutting board. If you are using the true Oasis brand of floral foam, you will notice 2 indented lines dividing the large brick into thirds. Cut along each of these indentations to divide the entire brick into three pieces. If you do not have the Oasis brand and there are not any indentations, just be sure to make 2 cuts within the entire foam brick to divide the piece into three smaller segments.
Next, taking your first pumpkin and wet floral foam piece, press the floral foam piece onto the top of the pumpkin hole just hard enough to make a circle indentation on your rectangular foam brick. Remove the floral foam from the top of the pumpkin and shave the brick edges to match the circle indentation. Place in water again as needed if you notice any dry portion of the floral foam once cutting it into a cylinder.
Repeat with each pumpkin and floral foam piece.
Step 5: Assemble pumpkin vases with floral foam
Having created 3 cylinders of floral foam and 3 carved clean pumpkins, pull aside one foam cylinder and one pumpkin.
Press the foam cylinder into the top hole of the hollowed pumpkin. If there is any foam protruding from the top of the pumpkin, use your knife to level the piece. Again, if you notice any dry spots once cutting the top of the foam, add a little water with a cup to dampen the floral foam.
Repeat with remaining pumpkins.
Step 6: Floral creations
Once preparing your pumpkin vases, lay out your flowers and greenery. I trimmed additional greenery from a couple of bushes within my yard, so feel free to add to what you bought as needed. Arrange the flowers within the pumpkin as you would a normal vase.
Repeat with each pumpkin vase.
Step 7: Prepare candles
Once each vase is filled, pull aside one apple and two small gourds that have stable or flat bottoms. Carve a small hole near the stem of each and insert a candle. Do not feel the need to fully carve out the centers of the gourds. One hole the width of your taper candle base and about ½”-1” deep will be enough to hold the taper candle.
Step 8: Lay out table design
Having created each of my pieces, I placed the three pumpkin vases in the center of my table fairly evenly spaced and then filled in around with the remaining gourds and apples. You can place the candles on either side of the table to prevent them from getting too close to the greenery.
For our fall occasion we were having chili, so I added bowls, side plates for the cornbread and a couple of festive apple napkins and voila, our fall tablescape is created!!
Final Thoughts
Pair this design with your favorite fall recipes, family and friends and you are on your way to creating the cozy atmosphere of love and laugher that fall dreams are made of. This tablescape is more than just for admiring, it is created for sharing. Sharing stories and experiences. Sharing food and recipes. Sharing our homes and our hearts. Fall gives us moments to pause, and in our pause, share our life with those that mean the most to each of us.
Happy sharing!
