DIY: Autumn Mini Pumpkin Table Centerpiece

Ornamental pumpkins are a new favorite decorative element of mine. I discovered that their segmented circular shapes and attractive bright colors are the perfect complement to the natural decorative materials I like to gather, and serve as an interesting main attraction in an easy to make festive display. And, well - they are just so darn cute!

To make this table centerpiece you'll need the following:

• 5 mini pumpkins (found at many grocery stores during autumn)
• a variety of leaves, moss, seeds, berries - whatever you can find
• one paper doily
• a gold charger plate (I found mine at a local thrift shop)

I really enjoyed getting outside and gathering up the bits of nature that were later used to fill in the gaps in and around the pumpkins. It's fortunate having an abundance of natural choices right here in my own yard, and it didn't take long to collect several handfuls of interesting materials:

After coming back indoors, it was fun just laying everything out and looking over this wonderful variety of mosses, lichens, berries, seed pods and arborvitae sprigs:

I had saved a few autumn colored leaves from a Japanese maple and my blueberry bushes, and added those to the mix as well.  

The first step is to arrange the mini pumpkins on your platter. This is where you want to pay attention to color, size and shape, as these elements determine the dynamics of the arrangement:

Make sure to leave space around some of the pumpkins; this will be where you will want to fill in those gaps with some of your gathered materials. I started with the arborvitae sprigs, adding in just a few around the perimeter of the charger plate:

Next, I added three sweet gum seed pods:

Then, I filled in the gaps between the pumpkins with moss, as well as adding some around the outsides:

A few leaves:

Some alder seed cones:

And lastly, some holly berries:

And that's it! I plan on using my new centerpiece as part of the table decor for our Thanksgiving Day celebration on Thursday, but of course this display is a great centerpiece for an autumn Sunday dinner, too. 

Thanks for reading, and I hope you will consider creating an Autumn Mini Pumpkin Table Centerpiece of your very own.  

See you next time!