DIY Autumn Decoration - Pumpkins & Succulents

Text, photos, and videos: Chloé Comte 

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In order to gently welcome you into autumn, I wanted to suggest a small DIY decor project to match your interior with the new season starting. Although temporary, it will have its little effect as a centerpiece, a hearth decoration, or simply as a decorative pot.

Follow the steps and feel free to multiply and adapt this DIY project according to your desires!

Materials

–      Large or medium pumpkins (in the color of your choice).
–      Small succulents of different varieties (upright, trailing, creeping, etc...)
–      Cactus & succulent potting soil
–      Growing pot (plastic pot with drainage holes)
–      Pen
–      Precision knife
–      Well-sharpened kitchen knife

Steps

1. Start by cutting the pumpkin using the precision knife to remove the top of the pumpkin by forming a circle.

2. Using a kitchen knife, cut and hollow out the inside of the pumpkin.

3. Place the growing pot upside down on the top of the pumpkin and trace the outline with a pen.

4. Using the kitchen knife, finish cutting the pumpkin so that the growing pot fits perfectly inside.

5. Once the hole is large and deep enough, place the growing pot in the pumpkin.

6. Fill the pot with cactus & succulent potting soil.

7. Plant the succulents in the pot.

Your temporary autumn decoration is ready!

Tips and tricks:

–      I recommend using special cactus and succulent potting soil for this project to ensure good drainage and thus keep the succulent arrangement as long as possible.

–      Place the trailing succulents on the edges of the pot and the upright ones more in the center to achieve a balanced composition.

–      Once the pumpkin has wilted, it will be easy for you to easily retrieve your succulent arrangement and place it in a pretty cachepot.

–      It is entirely possible to use fake pumpkins to keep this decoration for as long as possible and reuse it every year!

–      Succulents do not need much water (a bit like cacti!). Let the potting soil dry well between each watering (water about every 2 weeks in summer and once a month in winter).