Faux Pumpkin Planters

Mums look fabulous on a front porch decked out for Fall. However, I tend to forget to care for anything that I have potted or planted in the front of my house. Because of this, I have wasted so much money on mums. A few years ago, I invested in faux mums from Home Goods. They lasted fairly well but our house gets absolutely blasted by the afternoon sun. The flowers bleached a bit and just needed a bit of sprucing up. So, I made these Faux Pumpkin Planters and added my monochromatic mums for a fun and functional bit of front porch fall decor.

The Faux Pumpkins:

Not all fux pumpkins are the same. This isn’t a craft snob bit. Some faux pumpkins are solid foam or styrofoam. Others are hollow. The hollow ones are great for carving and having Halloween themed decor. We host an Oktoberfest every year so I need something that is a bit more general “fall” themed.

At Home had these 19 inch foam pumpkins. There’s a coating on top of the foam to keep it relatively outdoor friendly. As I mentioned above, these are solid foam. So if you’re looking to hollow them out and put a light in it, these aren’t your friends.

Carving Said Pumpkins

You could use a knife, but I opted for my styrofoam knife. I got it pretty cheap off of Amazon and it’s slow but steady. I cut the circumference for the hole and then worked kind of like carving a turkey until I had removed my desired amount of foam. These are fairly light, so I didn’t want to remove more than I absolutely needed. They don’t need to be blown off of my front porch and carried away on the wind.

Filling Your Faux Pumpkin

I had these bleached mums that were perfect. Honestly they almost match the pumpkin. But you could switch up the color and add any fall themed foliage. I could see deep purples and reds looking stunning in these babies. Stick in some pinecones, cinnamon sticks, etc. You could switch up the size of the pumpkin and use these to make adorable centerpieces that last all season long. If fresh is your thing, cut out the exact size of a glass vase and you could add water for fresh flowers and foliage.