DIY Succulent Pumpkins

Hey there friends.  Today’s post is my very first nod to Fall.  I’m nodding at you Fall but I’m not embracing you, especially after you littered my yard with debris last night.

I’m writing this post as I listen to the sound of chainsaws next door, where my neighbor had two trees go through their roof last night during the windstorm.  We were on the far edge of hurricane Irma’s path but we had heavy winds and power outages.  All I can say is that I’m very thankful that we were spared any damage to our home.

Last September I had a writer’s gathering at my house and after we talked, and ate, and talked some more, we all made our own Succulent Pumpkins.  This was such a fun and easy project, and even those who said they weren’t creative (“Come on people, you’re writers!”) had a grand time.

I started with a variety of gourds that I’d picked up my local farmer’s market.  Aren’t the colors cute?  Since bacteria is what causes gourds to decay I began by giving them a bath in bleach water.  I didn’t measure out the bleach to water ratio but I added a good sized splash to this large Tupperware bowl.  Please be careful not to splash this on your clothes, unless you are into tie-dye without the tie.

I dried my pumpkins and snapped off the stem, leaving a small hollow.  The deeper the hollow the better by the way, so look for that when shopping.

Some of the instructions I read for creating succulent pumpkins used potting soil, but we used this method instead and it worked great.  Using Elmer’s Extra Strength Spray Adhesive, we sprayed the tops of our pumpkins.

Then we started adding layers.  Spanish Moss.

Regular moss.

 

Followed by the addition of the succulents to the tops of our pumpkins.  Pieces of succulents or whole succulent plants were used and we attached them with a glue gun.  I was able to find flats at Lowe’s with a large variety of different succulent plants.

We all had a great time being creative and every person’s pumpkin was unique.

This large pumpkin was the most fun because I could fit such a large number of succulents on top.

 

Once the glue was dry we spritzed our succulents with water to hydrate them.  I repeated this daily, giving them a pretty good watering, but not so much that they were soaked.  I’m happy to say that my succulent pumpkins lasted all the way through Thanksgiving, making this a winner of a DIY!

Succulent Pumpkin tips:

• Keep succulent pumpkins out of direct sunlight.
• Keep succulent pumpkins cool.  Mine were in an air conditioned house.
• Spray daily with water, making sure to protect the area beneath your pumpkin.
• When giving your succulent pumpkins their daily pamper, be sure to tell them how pretty they are (this will keep them happy much longer).
  
• Show off your succulent pumpkins to all your guests and they will think you are the most clever person on the block.
  

That’s my DIY of the day friends.  I will be taking a few weeks off, as promised, to attend to some pressing business here at home, and when I come back I’ll be sharing with you everything I’ve been up to.  Meanwhile, I’d love for you to follow along with my exciting 🙂 day-to-day life on Instagram.

Blessings,

Sunday:

SundaysAtHome, TheDIYShowoff, LifeOnLakeshoreDrive, SilverPenniesSundays, RusticAndRefined, Spiritual Sundays

Monday:

IShouldBeMoppingTheFloor, TheDedicatedHouse, Dwellings, ProjectInspired,  InspireMeMonday, BetweenNapsOnThePorch, CelebrateYourStory, What Joy is Mine/Monday Musings, Darling Downs Diaries, The Art of Homemaking, MomentsOfHope, Glimpses, SittingAmongFriends

Tuesday:

TalkOfTheTown, HomeStoriesAtoZ, AStrollThruLife, CoastalCharm, CedarHillFarmhouse, TuesdaysAtOurHome, TheWinthropChronicles,  Rich Faith Rising Unite Linky, Testimony Tuesday,Cheerleaders of Faith,Tell His Story

Wednesday:

SavvySouthernStyle, A Wise Woman Builds Her Home, Woman to Woman Word Filled Wednesdays, Coffee for Your Heart, MessyMarriage, ThreeWordWednesday,  WriterWednesday

Thursday:

ShareYourStyle, ImpartingGrace, EmbracingChange, HaveADailyCupOfMrsOlson, MyRepurposedLife, ADelightsomeLife, KatherinesCorner,  Thought Provoking Thursday, SincerelyPaulas, ThoughtfulThursday, Tune-inThursday

Friday:

FrenchCountryCottage, TheCharmOfHome, TheDedicatedHouseAnythingBlueFriday, ShabbyliciousFriday, Sweet Inspiration,  Faith’nFriends, Missional Women Faith Filled Fridays, Dance With Jesus FreshMarketFriday

Saturday:

FunkyJunkInteriors, OneMoreTimeEvents,  SaturdaySparks, TheInspirationGallery, Make My Saturday Sweet

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