Simple and Cheap Fall Decorations: Hanging Pumpkins to Fall Leaves

All you need are things like scrap wood, twigs, wire, ribbon, clay or salt dough. Here are a few examples of decorations that you can make.

The White Hanging Pumpkin

The white pumpkin is made from a scrap piece of plywood. A piece ¼ inch to ½ inch would be good. This piece is 8 inches tall. Draw a desired pumpkin shape with stem on the plywood. Cut out the pumpkin with a jigsaw. Drill small holes on the top sides of the pumpkin, to put wire to hang. Paint the pumpkin white and the stem brown. Sand the edges around pumpkin and stem.

Put lines on down the pumpkin using a Dremel tool or wood burner. You could even just paint the lines on. Take a dark stain and wipe it over the whole thing and wipe off immediately. Take 10 inches of thin wire, jute or raffia and put it through the holes for the hanger. Then take a 6 inch piece of ribbon or scrap material, about ½ - ¾ and tie it on the stem of the pumpkin for the finishing touch.

The Orange Standing Pumpkin

For the orange pumpkin you will need a thick piece of wood. If you have a piece around ¾ inch - 1 inch that would work fine. An old piece of barn wood is great for this project, for that rustic look. You only need 6 inches. Draw the shape of a pumpkin on the piece of wood. Cut out the pumpkin making sure it has a flat bottom, so it can stand on a table or shelf. Paint orange and sand lightly. Drill hole or with a nail poke a few holes around ½ inches deep in the top of the pumpkin. Find a few twigs to put in holes for the pumpkin stem. This looks cute for a center piece with just a few fall leaves around it.

Fall Leaves

You can make leaves from a variety of materials such as thin plywood, clay or salt dough to mention a few. For wooden leaves, you can trace a real or silk leaf. Cut out and paint in fall colors. You could use clay according to package. Or you can make your own salt dough for these leaves.

1 cup salt
1 cup flour
½ cup water
Food coloring (optional)

Mix well and knead

Roll dough out about 3/8 inch thick and cut out with some leaf cookie cutters. Scrape leaf veins on, if cookie cutter does not show veins. Put leaves on a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil. Put in oven on a low temperature (around 150 degrees) for around 1½ - 2 hours, depending on thickness. If you are air drying let sit out for about 1 week to dry completely. Then paint as desired.