YAH: Pumpkin Planter

It's time for another Young-at-Heart craft! Fall is probably my most favorite time to make crafts. (Check out my fall wreath from last year here and a fall print I made here.) There are so many ideas floating around out there! But something really caught my eye this year. Lots of people are putting plants and flowers inside pumpkins. I love how it looks, but I didn't want to deal with cleaning out a real pumpkin or having to water the plant. Or having the pumpkin rot. So I decided to use a craft pumpkin and fake flowers. I know most people cringe at the thought of fake flowers in the home, but it's easiest for me and I can enjoy them for months at a time and get them back out the next year. So I went to Michaels and picked three groups of flowers as well as an orange craft pumpkin. Everything was 40% off and I had a gift card from my sister.

(My cats LOVE the smell of the fake flowers from Michaels. I don't know what it is, but they always go crazy for them.)

I really wanted a white/cream pumpkin, but they didn't have any left. I considered spray painting this orange one, but I thought I'd put it together first and then decide. So as soon as I got home from the store I got to work. Actually, that's not true. I took a nap. Then I got to work! I drew a circle around the top of the pumpkin. I wasn't sure how big of an opening I wanted, but I'd rather start small because I can always cut more if I wanted it wider.

Then I used a regular cutting knife from my kitchen to cut it. It was very easy. And mess-free! I arranged the flowers how I wanted them, using two groups as is and cutting up the third group to fill in spaces.

I was pretty happy with it so I didn't cut any more off the opening of the pumpkin. But I thought it still needed something. So I got out my ribbon bin and found a chocolate one that would be perfect. Using my Bowdabra, I made a bow and pinned it on the front.

I thought of putting this on my porch (and putting something heavy inside the pumpkin to weigh it down), but then I glanced at my chocolate wall behind me. I loved the colors of the flowers against the dark brown. So I made a space on our wine bar for my pumpkin planter.

I think it looks great! I might like a cream pumpkin better, but for now this will do just fine. Maybe next year when I get it out of storage I will paint it.

Ahhh, what a beautiful season...

**Linking up to Thrifty Decor Chick and Bowdabra's Saturday Showcase!**