05 Nov How To Create An Elegant Succulent Pumpkin Centerpiece
Hello...pumpkin DIY at it's finest!
Getting creative with your festive Fall decorating
It’s the time of year between Halloween and Thanksgiving when bats, oversized spiders, jack-o-lanterns, and witch hats are discarded or stored for another year. The good news is we get to keep our pumpkins and gourds out for another month!
I’m not a huge fan of carving pumpkins (too messy and stinky), but I LOVE the look of pumpkins on the front porch and in my home. I love the colors and they just remind me of Fall, and the changing season, and all the good things about this time of year. So, I’m always on the lookout for new and different ways to spruce up this once-a-year fruit we love to decorate with. (Yes…pumpkins are a fruit because of their seeds) 😉
The latest craze is succulent pumpkin centerpieces. Go on Pinterest and you will see a whole bunch. I’ve always been a huge fan of succulents in arrangements, and pumpkins as containers are, by far, one of my favs! So…I just HAD to try this one out for myself.
I did a bit of research on the different ways to create this lovely arrangement. One way is to carve a lid, scoop out the goop, fill it with dirt, and then “plant” the little succulents at the top. Another way is to leave the pumpkin whole, cut the succulents, and hot glue them to the top of the pumpkin. The latter is the method I chose because, as I just mentioned above, I’m not big on carving and scooping out the messy, stinky insides 😉 Also, the arrangement will prob last longer without cutting the pumpkin, AND it is much faster this way! Regardless of your method, the results will be stunning and I promise you will be grinning from ear to ear every time you catch a glimpse of the “WOW” centerpiece on your dining table or mantel!
I fell in love with this green pumpkin that I saw at Trader Joe’s! Isn’t it the best color of green?! It had a few scrapes and bruises, but I felt it added to its character. Don’t get me wrong- I love the orange and white pumpkins and they would look beautiful also! But, I went with green because…well…green is my favorite color! When choosing a pumpkin, pick one that is kind of sunken in at the top so you have a bit of a “bowl” shape to place your succulents into. Also, a flatter pumpkin shape will give you more surface area to use.
You will need moss as the first layer. I chose green sheet moss for this. Later, I also used a touch of green Spanish moss and a little green reindeer moss. (Head to my “Favorites” tab for a direct link to purchase any of these on Amazon.)
You will need a variety of succulents. Hopefully, you have an inexpensive garden store near you to purchase from because this part adds up real fast! $ I actually could have used one or two more succulents in this arrangement but chose not to purchase anymore because of the cost. If you have Jade bushes or other succulents in your yard, awesome! Use some cuttings from those to save money. FYI- I used 7 mini succulents for a 10″ pumpkin. The succulents I used (shown in the left photo above) were: Kalanchoe tomentosa “Panda Plant” (light grey one); Haworthia Universe (tiny spikey one in front); Bunny Ears cactus; Crassula ovata “Hobbit” (darker green one in back); Echeveria “Miranda” (lighter green one in middle); and last but not least, 2 of the Aeonium Zwartkop “Black Rose”. Use whatever combo you want! There are so many cool succulents/cactus plants out there!
You will need to use a small hot glue gun and glue sticks for this project. My hot glue gun is years old and has paper, twine, and now moss, stuck to it! It still works but I should prob get a new one for these photos! 😉
This succulent pumpkin is actually quite easy to make. It may look complicated, but it’s not. First, I hot glued small patches of the sheet moss directly to the top of the pumpkin surrounding the stem. You can make it hang over as much as you want. You don’t want to make it perfect though, rather keep it organic looking by leaving the edges uneven.
I then added the succulents. I learned that because most succulents are super resilient, even after you cut them and hot glue them, you will still be able to replant them when you are finished with this arrangement. After cutting at the base of the plant, I applied the hot glue to each succulent and quickly adhered them to the moss layer. You have to glue and stick them on one at a time because the hot glue hardens super fast. For the Bunny Ears plant, instead of cutting it, I pulled it out of its pot leaving all the roots on. I cleaned the dirt off to have a clean surface for the glue to adhere to.
I glued some of the green Spanish moss and reindeer moss here and there… et VOILA! Look how it turned out! Kinda looks like some sort of professional did it! 😉 It looks amazing on my little table and will last until Christmas. I’ve had it for a couple of weeks now, and I just keep changing what I display with it and it still looks beautiful! I will spray mist it with water every week to keep it lush and green.
CAUTION: I was in a bit of a hurry when making this centerpiece…had to take my daughter to soccer practice. Anyhoo because I rushed, I ended up burning my fingers with the hot glue! So BE CAREFULL ’cause it really hurts! Also, you don’t see it in my lovely photos, but this was a super messy project because of the dirt and moss. (At least it wasn’t stinky.) Doing this outdoors would be a great idea. Oh, and beware…the little cactus plant had tiny splinters that worked their way into my fingers! I was a bit of a mess after this one, not gonna lie! Noone seems to share with you the behind-the-scenes scary, messy stuff in these DIY projects…so, YOU’RE WELCOME! 😉
Other than those little cautionary details, this was a really fun, satisfying project that I would totally plan to do again with my girlfriends and my mom when I see her…and maybe a glass of wine 😉
You should try this lovely arrangement for your Thanksgiving centerpiece! Come on…add yet another THING to your list of things to do! At least this one will look fantastic, has zero calories, and will last a long time! Good luck and have fun!
~Debora
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Catherine
Posted at 19:00h, 05 NovemberThat was very elegant Debs, and I may try it myself , I just have to get some succulents as I have pumpkins from my friends garden.
deboraeastcott
Posted at 20:52h, 03 DecemberHow cool that you have pumpkins from your friend’s garden! This is a really fun DIY project to try!
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Posted at 19:20h, 24 November[…] on hand. To this, I added a succulent pumpkin I made literally weeks ago (check out my blog post How To Create An Elegant Succulent Pumpkin Centerpiece ), and a few white pumpkins I had on my mantel as part of my Autumn decor. Et voila! Easy, elegant, […]