Pretty Pumpkin Pots

Three pumpkins form a clever keeper for mums and other fall blossoms with Pretty Pumpkin Pots. Cutouts from a white pumpkin form striking accents in the base, while a smaller pumpkin disguises the flowerpot.

Choose your favorite fall blooms -- yellow mums and purple asters work well -- in complementary colors. If you can't find a white pumpkin, substitute a drift of beautiful fall leaves; just adhere them with hot glue.

Choose one small and one large orange pumpkin and one white pumpkin. Trace the bottom of the small pumpkin on the large pumpkin's side; cut out a hole in the large pumpkin along the tracing. Scrape the inside of the large pumpkin clean.

To create the leaf accents, push a leaf cookie cutter straight into the side of the white pumpkin, using a small piece of plywood to provide even pressure on the cutter. Tip: Don't use copper cutters, which bend easily.

Push the cutter all the way through the skin and remove the cut shape by pushing out from the inside of the pumpkin. Keep the shapes moist as you work by spraying them with water.

Remove an equal number of shapes from the large orange pumpkin using the same method. Fill the holes in the orange pumpkin with the shapes from the white pumpkin. Use a craft knife to gently scrape a vine connecting leaf to leaf.

Set the small pumpkin inside the lip of the larger pumpkin; adjust so that the small pumpkin rests securely inside the larger pumpkin. Cut a bit more out of the top of the large pumpkin if needed to increase the stability of the small pumpkin.

Set a flowerpot or other plant container on top of the small pumpkin. Trace around the bottom of the pot or container onto the pumpkin; cut out a hole along the tracing. Scrape the inside of the pumpkin clean. Plant fall flowers in the pot or container; insert into the pumpkin. Water the container regularly.