I love fall. There – I said it! I love the changing leaves, the cooler weather, and decorating with pumpkins. So, naturally with it being the first year in our first home, I wanted to make sure it felt festive!
We also don’t have a covered front porch, so it limits me a bit on what I can and can’t put out. No wood items – it will most likely rot and only last one season. No fake pumpkins – they’ll just blow away with this Midwest weather! In order to make sure I didn’t overwhelm Mr. Gorden, I didn’t buy too many pumpkins or mums (at least in my opinion – he might think differently!) But, the plan is to expand a bit more each year. My favorite find is the black indoor/outdoor lanterns – from Aldi! They were only $7 and they even have a timer, so you don’t have to worry about turning them on each evening. I may have to go back and get a couple more!
One trend that I’m loving is the layered front rugs and knew that our front porch was begging for it! And, after putting this all together I want to make sure everything lasts. Read on for my tips to keep your pumpkins fresher, longer and where I sourced the decor.
I was so happy with the cutest rug find – from Walmart, no less! I had the ‘hello’ rug inside for a few days before I set it on the porch. I found Elmer lying on it quite a few times before I took it outside. So, it’s definitely Elmer approved!
In order to keep the pumpkins longer, I used a few tricks I found. First off, I cleaned the pumpkins in a diluted bleach solution. It’s one gallon of water to one tablespoon of bleach. You can do it in your bathtub, but since it was such a nice day I decided to use an empty tote I had around the garage and wash my pumpkins that way.
We also have quite a few trees in our yard, which are home to…quite a few squirrels. In order to keep the squirrels from chewing the pumpkins I laid Irish Springs soap bars around the pumpkins as a deterrent. (The Dollar Tree has Irish Springs soap in packages of 2 for $1!) I cut the bars up into thirds so they would fit nicely around the pumpkins. Fingers crossed, my pumpkins will make it to Thanksgiving time when the larger ones will be harvested for some pie!
Products
Black Lanterns: Aldi (not online) – Huntington Home Black Fall Flameless Candle Lantern | White Lantern: Home Depot | Candle in White Lantern: Home Depot | Mums – 4 pk.: Costco (only $16!)| ‘Hello’ Rug: WalMart | Black and White Buffalo Check Rug: Amazon
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