It's possible that I go a little overboard when it comes to fall decorating — but it’s hard to resist all of the color and whimsy you can find this time of year. Luscious leaves are plentiful all around my home in shades of red, orange and yellow. Pumpkin farmers just smile when they see me coming, because they know I’ll walk away with a wagonload. My new favorite thing is looking for the most interesting pumpkin varieties around. Maybe they are “warty” or have interesting colors — whatever it is, there’s something about pumpkins that excites my imagination.

With just a few weeks until Halloween, I thought it would be fun to share with you a few projects that help to bring the garden closer to your home. Some of these ideas can last you until Thanksgiving, while others will find their way to the compost pile or recycling bin soon after the trick-or-treaters have gone home with their bags of loot. 

Whether you choose to cluster a few pumpkins and a mum by your front door or go all-out and create a haunted garden, I hope that you and yours have a safe and happy Halloween. 

Easy garden luminaries

Items needed:

• 12 orange lunch-sized paper sacks usually available at discount and party stores as well as hobby shops
• 1 bag of child’s play sand, usually available at home improvement stores
• 12 LED battery-powered lights (note that traditionally luminaries were lit using candles)

Steps:

First, fill paper sacks with sand ¼ of the way full. Then, line a walkway or other area with the bags, and finally, insert LED battery-powered light into the bags.

The finished product will allow you to illuminate the path to your front door at night to help trick-or-treaters see their way in the dark. Using LED battery-powered “candles” is a safe alternative to open flames.

Pumpkin topiary

Items needed:

• 3 pumpkins, graduated in size and easy to stack one on top of the other
• Carving items such as sharp kitchen knife, ice-cream scoop, jar lid, melon carver or other items for removing seeds
• Wooden floral stakes
• Flashlight or focus lamp

Steps:

The first thing you'll want to do is find three pumpkins that you can easily stack one on top of the other. A large one at the bottom, a medium-sized one in the middle and a small one to round off the top.

Now the idea here is to create an opening all the way through the three pumpkins, so a light can sit in the bottom pumpkin and shine out all three of them. The smallest pumpkin will determine the size of the holes to cut. Cut a hole in the top and bottom of the small and medium pumpkins. You'll only need to cut a hole in the top of the large one.

Next, clean out the seeds. I've found an ice-cream scoop and an old jar lid very helpful when trying to remove all of the goo. You may wish to reserve the seeds to make toasted pumpkin seeds. 

Now for the fun part: giving them a little personality. I like to give each one a unique face, one menacing, one happy and one a little surprised.

After the carving is done, stack the totem and secure one jack-o’-lantern to the next by pinning them with wooden floral stakes. When it comes to lighting them up, you can use a flashlight, but recently I came across a focus lamp at my local hardware store. This kind of light is inexpensive, runs on batteries and lasts a long time.

With so many varieties of pumpkins out there and so many different faces to carve, the sky's the limit. Be creative and have fun!

Pumpkin-and-mum arrangement

Items needed:

• Large pumpkin
• Carving items for pumpkin such as a kitchen knife, jar lid or ice pick
• Petroleum jelly
• Disposable cloths or paper towels
• Mum in nursery pot

Steps:

Place the base of the nursery pot over the pumpkin and gently score the edges of the pumpkin to mark the width of the mum pot. Cut out top of pumpkin using scored edges the width of the mum pot, discarding the cap and stem of pumpkin. Scoop out insides of pumpkin. (Note: You may wish to save the seeds to toast later.) Using the ice pick, punch four holes into base of pumpkin. This will allow for water drainage. Gently dry interior of pumpkin using cloth or paper towel. Now spread a coating of petroleum jelly over interior of pumpkin. This will help to keep the pumpkin from drying out and decaying as quickly. Insert mum into pumpkin and keep mum moist (drying out is the kiss of death to mums).

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