Give Your Home Fall Flair by Decorating with Pumpkins and Gourds

By BH&G Editors
Updated August 30, 2019
Credit: Werner Straube
Gear up for autumn with these pumpkin and gourd decorating ideas that use the season's bounty in the most beautiful ways. Whether you're looking to add some seasonal decor to the inside or outside of your home, you'll find plenty of ideas for pumpkins and gourds that suit your style.
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Gourd Garland

Credit: Werner Straube

Dress up your front porch with this bright gourd garland. Simply loop wire or twine around the stems of small gourds and pieces of greenery, and hang along your porch rail or fence. Make sure to pick small gourds to keep the garland lightweight.

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Fill a Window Box

Credit: Brie Williams

When it comes to this outdoor fall decor, there's just one thing you have to remember: The more, the merrier. A plethora of small gourds and pumpkins in different sizes and colors make a window box especially eye-catching. The additions of a faux crow, a Halloween-inspired sign, and flowers make the scene even more festive.

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Gourd-geous Candle Display

Credit: Werner Straube

Pair large, flat pumpkins with candles and bottomless glass hurricanes to create this festive fall centerpiece. The different shapes and sizes of the gourds will add gorgeous texture and color to your fall table. If you have kids around, consider using battery-operated votives instead of candles.

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Basket of Gourds

Credit: Werner Straube

Do you have a few leftover gourds that you're not sure how to use but don't want to discard? Just grab a basket that complements the rest of your decor, stick the various pumpkins and gourds in the container, and place it wherever your space needs a little oomph. It can even withstand the elements and be placed outside for a pretty fall front porch.

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Easy Harvest Centerpiece

Credit: Stephen Kent Johnson

This stunning fall centerpiece is so simple. Gather a few vases in different shapes and sizes, and place a single stem in each one. Stick to varying shades of the same color for a cohesive look. Then, arrange small gourds around the planters. This easy fall decor can come together in just a few minutes.

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Nothing But Neutrals Fall Vignette

Credit: Werner Straube

You don't have to go bold to achieve a fall-worthy look. This window vignette uses nearly all white accents, with the exception of the bittersweet and a yellow gourd. The subtle hints of color are just right for a vintage-inspired look.

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Dazzling Fall Tablescape

Credit: Peter Krumhardt

With the help of a permanent marker, pumpkins create a beautiful fall centerpiece. Use the marker to draw a different letter onto each gourd to spell "fall," "thanks," "harvest," or any other autumnal word, then place them on cake stands to elevate your phrase. Use miniature pumpkins and zinnias or dahlias to create easy fall place settings.

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Harvest Bounty Mantel

Credit: Kim Cornelison

Wow guests with a stunning fall mantel display. Lay out a spread of pumpkins, gourds, nuts, acorns, and harvest blooms. This combination looks appropriate from early fall all the way to Thanksgiving.

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Pretty Wrapped Pumpkins

Credit: Blaine Moats

Create autumn decorations you can use year after year. Simply wrap craft-store pumpkins with different hues of yarn and burlap. Secure with hot glue. Get the look with our full how-to instructions to make these pumpkins.

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Chic Cheese Tray

Credit: Kim Cornelison 

Let an appetizer tray double as fall decor. A cheese plate gets an upgrade from pumpkins, gourds, branches, and other festive touches. Make sure to thoroughly wash gourds before placing them near any edibles.

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Wheelbarrow Pumpkin Welcoming Display

Credit: Helen Norman Photography

Put an old wheelbarrow to use by filling it with an assortment of squash, pumpkins, and gourds. Use black acrylic paint or a permanent marker to decorate one of the pumpkins with a welcoming message. Display it near your porch or on your patio for fall flair.

Related: Outdoor Pumpkin Decorating Ideas

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Caged Gourds

Credit: swan neck gourds in wire container

Put an old birdcage to use by placing gourds and pumpkins inside. The result is a vintage-chic look perfect for a front porch or patio. Plus, the antique container will keep pests from picking at your pumpkins!

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Carved Gourd

Credit: Peter Krumhardt

This stunning gourd decoration is all about contrast. Simply trace a sugar maple leaf (or other found-on-the-ground variety) with a permanent pen. Cut lightly around the outline with a knife, being sure not to cut all the way through the gourd. A simple scraping tool (such as an inexpensive clayworkers' ribbon tool) will help you trim out the shape.

Editor's Tip: When buying a gourd, pick one in a shape and color that you like. More often than not, the color of the flesh will be different enough from the color of the skin to create a nice contrast.

Get the Carving Pattern

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Pumpkin Planter

Credit: Kritsada Panichgul

Extend your pumpkin decorating ideas to the garden with this simple fall planter. Nestle white pumpkins in with an assortment of greens and branches. For a pop of fall color, consider adding a few fresh mum blooms, too.

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Piled-High Pumpkins

Credit: King Au

Set a festive tone with a table piled with pumpkins, gourds, and bittersweet. Raid the cupboard for display ideas, such as bowls or cake plates. The rich fall colors of pumpkins and gourds make it easy to create an elegant centerpiece.

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Crafty Gourd Critters

Credit: Jay Wilde

Fashion a family of friendly critters to top a fence post or railing. Use small pumpkins and gourds for bodies and attach sunflower seeds, feathers, and nuts with hot glue to make facial features. Don't have white pumpkins? Create colored creatures with painted gourds or pumpkins.

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Pumpkin Place Cards

Credit: Matthew Mead

Add a thoughtful touch to a fall dinner with custom-made place cards. Using your computer, create business-card-size tags with simple imagery and fanciful lettering. Print and attach to a small gourd with a pushpin. Guests will appreciate the personal touch.

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Pumpkins on White Dishes

Credit: Scott Little

Stack squatty gourds among your favorite white china. Dishes with ridges complement the lines of the natural elements in the display. Mixing and matching is trendy and a great way to use your collectibles.

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Gourd Vases

Credit: Andre Baranowski

Hollow out several tall squashes and use them as vases for your favorite fall blossoms. White gourds make a beautiful pairing with pink and orange flowers. If needed, cut off a small portion of the base to allow the gourd to properly stand upright.

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Tablecloth-Weight Gourds

Credit: Matthew Mead 

Little decorative gourds can do great things. Try creating these table weights from mini gourds to hold a tablecloth in place at an outdoor dinner party. Measure the tabletop and add enough for a 6-inch drop of yardage on all sides plus a 1-inch hem. Hem fabric with fusible tape and an iron. To make the corner flaps, notch a 5-inch square from each corner and hem using fusible tape. Add grommets with a kit from a crafts or fabrics store.

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Pumpkin Garland

Credit: Peter Krumhardt

A festive fall feel is easy to create in any room by dressing windows with a pumpkin-laden garland. Simply knot clusters of fresh leaves and mini pumpkins onto a length of twine and swag along the top of a window. Use rustic rope or twine for a farmhouse feel.

Related: Creative Pumpkin Crafts

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Gourd Candleholders

Credit: Marty Baldwin

Craft a set of candleholders from decorative gourds by simply cutting off the tops and hollowing out the centers. For an easy autumn display, arrange them in a metal tray filled with green hedge apples. Small dried-grass bows contribute additional fall style.

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Prettiest Pumpkin Vases

Credit: Peter Krumhardt

White pumpkins double as vases and make for an artful, natural fall display. Insert leaves, orange flowers, and cattails into a vase hidden inside the hollowed-out pumpkins. Be sure to create this fall craft near the date of your event to keep the harvest produce at its freshest.

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Hanging Gourd Vase

Credit: Peter Krumhardt

Hook a swan gourd over a balcony rail to create a hanging vase. Cut a 1- to 2-inch hole near the neck of the gourd and remove a bit of the pith. Insert mums, black-eyed Susans, and a length of Virginia creeper for an easy fall gourd decoration.

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Potted Pumpkins

Credit: Andy Lyons

Weathered terra-cotta pots give this simple display a boost. Set pumpkins in or atop them, and pair with an explosion of rich burgundy dahlias accented with pumpkin leaves.

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Flowered Pumpkins

Credit: Kim Cornelison

Create this beautiful floral display using yellow and orange mums. Cut the heads from the flowers and hot-glue them all over the pumpkins. Display on tabletops or in small footed urns.

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Gourds Galore

Credit: Helen Norman Photography

Bring a warm glow to the front porch with a generous tumble of smooth-skin gourds in soft, creamy colors. Accent them with frilly ornamental kale and fall flowers.

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Mini-Pumpkin Wreath

Credit: Marty Baldwin

For this autumn wreath, first tap small nails into the surface of miniature pumpkins and gourds; carefully poke sturdy toothpicks into those holes. Coat the protruding end of the toothpick with hot glue and immediately stick into a straw wreath form. Once the wreath is as covered with pumpkins and gourds as possible, hot-glue silk leaves around the wreath to fill in the gaps.

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Gourd Planters

Credit: Peter Krumhardt

Transform gourds into planters for the fall season. Simply hollow out the gourds and tuck in the root balls of ornamental grasses or sedge (a perennial herb). Draw jack-o'-lantern faces onto the gourds with paint pens for a Halloween-theme arrangement.

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