Creative Ways to Decorate with Pumpkins

October and pumpkins go hand and hand. Even if your family doesn’t celebrate Halloween, pumpkins are one of the traditional symbols of fall that are often used to add color and seasonal appeal to everything from front porches to fireplace mantels. Whether your style is elegant or whimsical, rustic or modern, there’s a way to creatively incorporate pumpkins into your design.

Real Faux Pumpkins

What do you get when you combine a pumpkin and spray paint?  A gorgeous, real “faux” pumpkin that looks perfect in an elegant foyer or dining room. Spray paint pumpkins of varying sizes with Krylon mirror paint to create the look of faux mercury glass pumpkins or use a glossy white spray paint to create the appearance of a collection of creamware pumpkins.

Pumpkins with Millennial Style

Carving a pumpkin with a scary face is so 1999 these days. Instead, pick up a package of gold or silver tacks and use them to give your pumpkin some serious trendy design appeal.  Use the tacks to create a freestyle design or, if you don’t trust your own artistic abilities, use an inexpensive plastic stencil and a piece of chalk to layout your design. Struggling for ideas?  Consider monogramming your pumpkin with your family initials, creating a chevron effect, or a diamond pattern.

Pumpkins with Bling-Bling

All the biggest fashion houses have featured sequins and rhinestones in their fall and winter collections—why not follow their lead and give your pumpkins a little bling as well? Cover several sizes of pumpkins with spray adhesive or a thick cover of Mod Podge and a heavy sprinkling of german glass glitter to create pumpkins that will rival the most expensive Louboutin. Be sure to work in a well protected space and to give the pumpkins plenty of time to dry before moving them or you’ll be finding glitter everywhere well into 2012.

For the Young (or Young at Heart)

Young kids really get a kick out of carving pumpkins for Halloween, but it’s a rare parent who looks forward to cleaning out pumpkin guts or worrying about enthusiastic children getting too close to sharp carving implements.  Solve this problem easily with felt. Children can draw a variety of mouths, eyes and noses on black or colored felt. Cut out these shapes and use pins or double-sided tape to create faces for your pumpkins. They can even create new faces every day until Halloween and you don’t have to worry about rotting pumpkins stinking up the front porch.

Pick up your pumpkins at a or home improvement store, such as .