don't throw away your pumpkins!

The beginning of November is a little bit like December 26th- a bit of a letdown (with the added bonus of a sugar crash added in for kicks... oh that's just us? Right. Carry on.).

But if you have a porch full of perfectly good pumpkins, we have some ideas for you!

In fact, a couple years ago, on November 1st, the pumpkin patch near my parents' house put out a sign that said "Free Pumpkins." Both of my sisters were in town, so we grabbed as many pumpkins as their little Toyota could carry (thirteen or fourteen, if I remember correctly) and had The Great Pumpkin Seed Bake-Off. It was FANTASTIC.

And this year, we used some of the Miller Farms loot as centerpieces. Yep, there is new life for your pumpkin as a gorgeous, very fall-ish vase!

First take your pumpkin...

...empty it of it's seeds and place a mason jar inside the middle...

Then take your flowers and start arranging them into a pretty bouquet in your hand. Keep arranging until they look just right.

A little tip Jord taught me? Once you have them arranged in your hand, trim the bottom straight across. That way, when you stick them into their vase or jar, they retain their pretty bouquet.

Fill the mason jar with water, stick your fabulously arranged bouquet into your jar and you have yourself a fantastic pumpkin vase.

Pretty right?

And a few more pictures of our very-pumpkin-heavy EarlyThanksgiving decor-

 

What do you do with your pumpkins after Halloween?