Floral Friday: Blooming Pumpkins and Harvest Pumpkin Table

Flowers and pumpkins are two of my favorite things and I love combining them for a fall or Thanksgiving table or seasonal centerpiece!

And I love joining my blogging friends for Floral Fridays! You’ll find their links for beautiful floral inspiration at the bottom of this post.

Our common theme for this edition of Floral Friday was pumpkins!

I gathered some pumpkins, gourds, and mums for an easy harvest centerpiece for fall. This is a quick and easy centerpiece that you can pull together for a fall table with items from the grocery store, no flower arranging skills required!

You can use any kind of wooden box, basket or tray to build your centerpiece. I pulled out my rustic wood caddy, previously filled with spring-flowering bulbs to hop down the bunny trail.

I started with some kale from the produce department of the grocery store. Kale makes a great filler, providing texture to soften and tuck in around edges of your container and provide a base for your arrangement. Kale is hardy stuff and will last a several days without wilting and can be affordably replaced at 99 cents for a large bunch.

I placed jars filled with water and added some $3 mums from the grocery store, placing the jars in each corner of the caddy.

Fill in the center and edges with veggies, mini pumpkins and/or gourds and flowers from the grocery store. You can use squash, pomegranates, apples, pears, persimmons or whatever says “harvest” to you, along with the flowers of your choice to build your centerpiece.

Mums are affordable and long-lasting, providing a bang for the buck and can last up to two weeks if you change your vase water every other day. After your flowers are spent, you can easily replace them, extending the life of your centerpiece.

 Harvest Pumpkin Wreath Plates were picked from the pumpkin patch at Williams-Sonoma, on sale with free shipping. . .

They’re serving up fruit, flowers and gourds along the vibrant border, placed on tree slice chargers. A plaid throw provides a colorful foundation as tablecloth.

I used an easy short cut to create a blooming pumpkin that I’ve shared before, but it’s worth repeating, as no is cutting required! Also since you don’t cut your pumpkin, it will last throughout the fall season.

If you’ve ever tried to cut these little tiger-striped pumpkins for serving soup or for mini vases, you know how hazardous it can be to cut through the hard skin and flesh. Skipping this step saves time, prevents accidents, as well as extending the life of your pumpkin.

Here’s the easy short cut: Add a piece of wet floral foam on top of your pumpkin, rather than it hollowing out to make a vase for your flowers. If your pumpkin has a short stem, use the stem to anchor the wet floral foam to hold it in place. If your pumpkin is stemless,  use some waterproof floral tape to secure the foam to the pumpkin. You can see an example of the foam held in place with the floral tape, here. Wet foam and tape are available on the floral aisle at the craft store.

For the mini pumpkins, I used some foliage from the garden, Loropetalum with its purple tinted foliage and Kaleidoscope Abelia with blush pink-tinted tips. Mums add a some russet and  burgundy colored blooms.

Once you’re gathered all your foliage and floral material, these mini blooming pumpkins come together quickly. I start by adding the foliage first. It always takes more foliage than I think, so cut more than you think you might use.

I used one half of floral foam brick for four mini pumpkins and about 6 – 8 small blooms per pumpkin.

These mini blooming pumpkins make the perfect take-away party favor for your guests, friends or family members.

Harvest Pumpkin Table Details:

  Harvest Pumpkin Plates / Williams-Somona, recently

Napkins / Pier 1, last year

Courtly Stripe Pumpkin Napkin Rings / MacKenzie-Childs, this summer

Tree Slice Chargers / Bed, Bath & Beyond, several years ago

Plaid throw / HomeGoods, several years ago

Flatware / Towle Seville

Amber Goblets / Mikasa French Countryside

Visit my talented blogging friends to see their floral inspiration this week:

Lidy at FrenchGardenHouse

Pam at Everyday Living

Shirley at Housepitality Designs

Thank you for your visit, sharing with:

 Between Naps on the Porch