Everything’s coming up pumpkins: fall ideas for your home

“Tonight the Great Pumpkin will rise out of the pumpkin patch.  He flies through the air and brings toys to all the children of the world.”

~ Linus, It’s the Great Pumpkin,Charlie Brown

There is pumpkin mania in the land as Halloween and the festive fall holidays are upon us. And indeed, pumpkins are coming up everywhere.

• Looking for ways to decorate with pumpkins as the theme? Select from some of these imaginative and inspirational ideas for pumpkin centerpieces for fall and Halloween tables. Pumpkins make perfect vases for fall floral arrangements, for example.

• Pumpkin Recipes? Who would have thought that our favorite Thanksgiving pie filling would have expanded into 50 other ways to include pumpkin in our cooking?  From breads to soups, you’re sure to find a tasty way to celebrate with pumpkin fare with a visit to this website offering pumpkin recipies for fall. And if you want the challenge of making the best pumpkin pie ever, Chef John has a video giving you a step-by-step recipe of his secret method. Is it better than mom’s? Check out the chef’s video here, and you can be the judge.

• Not to be outdone, the folks at Pumpkin Patches and More have a site that guides users to every state’s pumpkin patches–and more. Click on your state, and then your region, and check out where you and your family might want to plan a pumpkin picking party. Once those pumpkins are selected and brought home, have a carving party with pumpkin carving party ideas from Martha Stewart. For the serious carvers, Williams Sonoma has a kit that allows you to do some very fancy carving indeed. Check it out here at the Williams Sonoma pumpkin carving tools site.

• From the editors of Country Living magazine comes Pumpkin Chic; a paperback which gives such fun ideas as using small pumpkins as candlesticks and lighting carved pumpkins as window decor.

From patch to parlor, this book includes ideas to bring pumpkins into your home.

And so while The Great Pumpkin may not really be strewing toys from the sky, there are lots of ideas to bring the charm of pumpkins into your home.

• Cheer your desk with a pumpkin decoration: The woodsy looks of Hooker’s Lorimer desk call out for pumpkin cheer. Desk jobs don’t have to be devoid of a lighthearted touch–small pumpkins host a few sprigs of bittersweet and a ribbon.

The Lorimer desk has a convenient center drawer drop-front keyboard and two drawers fitted with writing inserts and pencil trays. Hickory veneer adds to this desk’s especially warm and handsome demeanor.

• Add Color for the season: Bradington Young has been spending some time in pumpkin patches, being inspired by the soft leather settee, Aria, in a luscious shade of soft pumpkin.

This settee is a new design, with lovely fabric pillows to tuck in the small of your back as you look over your pumpkin picking photos.

Another new design, the Avington chair has a tooled back that would remind you of a carved surface.

Rich, warm leather combines with a fabric cushion and back surround for a unique and stunning combination. A chair for all seasons, it is quite at home in an autumnal setting.

• Use Pumpkin as art: Pumpkins can be very sophisticated, as this pumpkin painted white with an applique of leaves illustrates.

What better place to display this special work of art than this butterfly console table from the Melange Collection?

The table is hand-painted in a lovely silver leaf finish and makes a wonderful way to greet guests for the adult Halloween occasion.

• Take a trip down memory lane: Charm your little ones with a screening of It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. It’s a tale that never grows old and the perfect place to relive the special wit and wisdom of Peanuts is nestled in front of the TV housed in the Windward entertainment center.

Put in your own home movies of family trips to the pumpkin patch, serving the yummy pie fresh from the oven–and don’t forget the whip cream.

• Note: As a magazine editor, every fall I was confronted with creating something special for Halloween. Before all the fancy carving kits, (and not wanting to have children wield knives) I came up with the idea of using cookie cutters to create the designs. My favorite pattern, which I have used in our home ever since, is placing stars around the pumpkin.  After scooping out the inside, I placed the star cutter carefully on the outside of the pumpkin and to aid the cutting, gently tapped with a small hammer. Be sure to use a cutter with deep sides that is not flimsy, and space the stars at distances that won’t collapse the pumpkin wall. Using different-sized cutters helps with this task. Once the stars are in place, “fill” the pumpkin with Christmas tree lights, letting them cascade over the sides and along the surface where the pumpkin will be displayed.  The effect is of vines. And remember that cookie cutters are good for making cookies, too!  Happy fall!