Pumpkins and gourds are a hallmark of fall. It’s that time of year for hearty soup, sweaters and boots—and pumpkins on every doorstep. The classic Jack-o-lantern for Halloween is always fun to make, but there are also tons of other, slightly more grown-up ways you can use pumpkins in your fall porch decor.
Paint Your Pumpkins
Go with classic Jack-o-lantern faces, or try solid fall colours such as shiny metallics or whatever colour fits in with your decorating scheme.
Fill a Wheelbarrow With a Pile of Pumpkins
If you don’t actually want to fill a wheelbarrow with pumpkins–they’re heavy–put a layer of straw or hay as filler.
Go Glam
Bedazzle your pumpkins with glitter, sequins, beads, pearls, gems, and whatever else you like. All you need is a glue gun and some style.

Make Faux Pumpkins for Easy Cleanup
Want something less likely to rot when the frost hits? With some fabric scraps, string, and plastic bags for stuffing, you can create cute fabric pumpkins that match your decor and won’t get gross.
Embrace Antique Containers
Use old wooden crates, antique wash tubs, or whiskey barrel-style planters and fill them with straw or leaves, pumpkins, and chrysanthemums.
Create a Topiary
Stack pumpkins, like a Christmas tree, to create a pumpkin topiary in your patio planters. You’ll need to cut the stems of the middle ones short, and if you’re worried the display will topple, here’s how to secure it:
- Glue the pumpkins together. Or, drill a hole through the top and bottom of all but the top pumpkin.
- Push a long dowel down into the dirt in your patio planter. Then place each pumpkin down on the dowel.
- Drill a hole in only the bottom of your top pumpkin, and set it on top.

Get Seasonal Signage
Pair your pumpkins with a cute fall-themed sign, or make the pumpkins the sign by painting them with chalkboard paint. Chalkboards are also great because you can change up the message whenever you like. Alternatively, attach a letter (or your house numbers) to each pumpkin and line them up on your porch.
Make a Pot of Gold
Fill your patio planters with a pile of tiny pumpkins for mounds of eye-catching gold.

Repurpose
Not keen on real pumpkins? If you have a jigsaw or scroll saw, repurpose some old planks into pumpkin shapes that you can paint. Add some chrysanthemums or dried grasses, and you have a unique fall display that you can use for years to come.
Make a Scarecrow
Use the pumpkin’s stem as the nose, then paint or glue on some eyes and a mouth. Set your pumpkin on a patio planter or a bucket, and put a flannel plaid shirt around it.
Tie a Bow on it
Keep it minimalist by simply tying a fall-themed ribbon around your pumpkins and creating a pretty bow.
Put Mini Pumpkins on the Door
Create a wreath for your front door by gluing mini gourds onto a wreath form.
Make Your Pumpkin Comfortable
Create a cozy scene in a patio chair with a blanket, a seasonal throw pillow, and a few gourds of different shapes, sizes and colours.
Create a Pretty Lantern
Hollow out your pumpkin the traditional way, but instead of cutting out a face or image, use a drill to create a pretty repeating pattern all the way around, and then put a battery light in it.

Make Fall Planters
Hollow out pumpkins, fill them with potting soil and plant chrysanthemums straight into them. They also look exciting, with a cluster of hens & chicks planted like a mound of green on top. Most hens and chicks are plenty hardy enough to survive winter. Hens and chicks are also easy to pluck out and replant somewhere else when your pumpkin starts to decay, or dig a hole and plant it in your garden or flower bed.
Make Pumpkins Out of Trees
Have a few round slices of a tree trunk around? Sand them down a bit, paint them orange, add a painted face, and arrange them on your steps.
Decorate the Stairs
Choose a variety of different pumpkins and gourds, and mix and match them with chrysanthemums and other fall flowers on each step or along the edge of your patio.
Have you started your fall decorating yet? If not, stop by Mother Nature and browse through the store and garden center to get some great ideas and inspiration.