DIY Succulent Pumpkin Planter

Hey guys.  I have really been enjoying all the fall home tours on Instagram and on the decorating blogs.  As for me, though, it’s been a slow process to get my head in the fall mood.  I find that I am gravitating away from seasonal decorating.  Rather I enjoy changing things up a bit here and there as I find things or as the mood strikes, no matter what the season. But in the spirit of the season (and to please my family) I did manage to transform a faux pumpkin into a planter so I thought I would share the process with you.

Chelsea at Stylemutthome.com provided the inspiration.  You can see her version here.

Here’s what I used for this project:

1 faux pumpkin

succulents

plastic container

soil

reindeer moss

glue gun

I started by drawing a circle freehand around the top of the pumpkin and then carved the top off just as if it were a real pumpkin.  A utility knife would work best … I used a steak knife because, well, when inspiration hits, I used what is close at hand!

My faux pumpkin was full of styrofoam beads so I scraped out an area about the size of my plastic container.  (That grey thing you see in the pumpkin is a weight.  You can leave it in or take it out.)

Once I got the plastic container to sit flush with the top of the pumpkin, I planted my succulents.  This is a great time to shop the garden clearance section at Lowe’s and Home Depot.  I got this giant planter of succulents for just $5 (marked down from $35).  There were still lots of them last week, so head on over and get yours!

I used 3 different varieties of succulents for my planter.  It looked pretty good at that point, but I really liked how Chelsea used the moss around the edge to soften things up.

So a little bit of hot glue around the edge of the pumpkin was all that was needed to secure the reindeer moss.

 I like that when the season is over, I can put the pumpkin away and plop the plastic container of succulents into a pretty vessel to enjoy year round.

The plaid candle (pumpkin and nutmeg scent)  and checked dish towel are from Target.

Happy Fall!

Debra

PS. If you’d like to see last year’s faux pumpkin makeover, click here.