With Halloween and Thanksgiving just around the corner, decorating your house for the Fall festivities can dramatically change the atmosphere for your parties! With some of these simple decorating crafts and tips, your guests are sure to love them.

  1. Bring those pumpkins indoors! This is a fall classic, and yet so simple. You can purchase small to large sized pumpkins, and also getting them in different colors spices things up. You can also decorate using gourds. If you want to get really creative, you can paint your pumpkins; this is a great project for the kids. The best paint to use is acrylic paint, or floral painting sprays. Permanent markers also work well on the surface, but make sure not to get it all over your hands or clothes. You can also spray a sealer or varnish onto your pumpkin to help the paint last longer. But, before you start painting, make sure to wash the pumpkin thoroughly to remove any dirt. Also, be wary of any bumps or blemishes that are on your pumpkin, since this can make it difficult when you are painting  a design. Also, spraying the inside and outside of your pumpkin with Lysol can help preserve your pumpkin’s life longer.

 

  1. Use gourds for vases! This is great for centerpieces on the dining room table, or anywhere you want to display a beautiful flower arrangement. All you need to do is cut off the top of the gourd; you don’t want to cut off too much because you want it to be able to hold up the flowers. Next, take a Halloween pumpkin scooper, and scoop out the flesh. For outside decorating, use pumpkins as plant holders!

 

  1. Use dried corn cobs to create a festive autumn wreath! The easiest thing to do is use a Styrofoam or grapevine wreath base. Then, take all of the dried corn cobs and gently peel back all of the corn husks. Then using a hot glue gun, arrange all of the corn cobs around the wreath base. There are many possibilities you can add to you fall wreath to jazz it up! To finish attach a string or hook to the back of your wreath for easy hanging. 

 

  1. Bring those autumn leaves into your home! You can turn boring white candles into works of art by decoupaging them with autumn leaves.  Use leaves that are various shades of yellow, red, and orange for a truly autumn atmosphere. You can purchase decoupage at a hobby and craft store, or make your own. To make your own decoupage all you need is 3 parts Elmer’s white glue & one part water. But, these candles are merely for looks, you do not want to burn them!