Fall Outside Decorating Ideas 2012

wire pumpkin with fall gourds and decor

Credit: Adam Albright

The best fall outdoor decorations can stay on display from harvest to Halloween. Add to the natural beauty of your backyard with stylish pumpkin decorations and seasonal window boxes filled with hardy flowers. Our versatile fall outdoor decorating ideas span the season from September through Thanksgiving—plus, many displays can be brought indoors and used as fall centerpieces during seasonal entertaining.

Rustic Potted Plants

mum and kale arrangements in galvanized buckets near door

Credit: Bob Stefko

Galvanized planters ($16, Kohl's) add a rustic touch to any fall front porch. Fill each one with plenty of seasonal plants, like mums, flowering kale, and pansies, then showcase on your front steps. We love this fall container garden's mix of colors and varieties.

Harvest Stairway

mini pumpkin greenery table setting

Credit: Panichgul Studios, Inc

Gather galvanized buckets to host combos of pumpkins, cabbage plants, and Japanese lanterns. Fill the containers partway with soil; this will help anchor the cabbages and give the pumpkins a boost. Guide visitors through your harvest entryway by trimming your porch railing with a homemade garland crafted from hemp-wrapped coiled wire, baby gourds, and seeded eucalyptus leaves.

Jumbo Jack-o'-Lantern

wire pumpkin with fall gourds and decor

Credit: Adam Albright

Create supersize pumpkins from two wire baskets filled with gourds. To make this harvest display, fill baskets with gourds; top one with a thin board. Hold the board in place while flipping the basket to sit on top of its mate. Slide the board out and bind the baskets with wire. Use driftwood or a piece of a thick branch for the pumpkin stem. Add a felt face with hot glue for Halloween, then remove to transition fall decor into the holidays.

Related: How to Make a Wire Pumpkin Porch Decoration

Putting on the Glitz

Black pumpkins with gold stencils on front porch

Credit: Adam Albright

Glam up your fall pumpkin display by making it shimmer with liquid gold leaf ($13, Amazon). To make the gold leaf fall pumpkins, tape off the pumpkins' stems using painters tape. Paint the pumpkins black. Let dry. Place a crow stencil on one pumpkin and trace it with a white pencil. Paint the crow with liquid gold leaf. Decorate the other two pumpkins with a random arrangement of feather tattoos.

Pumpkin Candle Holders

Table with candles, pumpkins

Credit: Werner Straube

Light the way to your front door with a fall candle display. All it takes to make this modern twist on a jack-o'-lantern is a pumpkin or stout gourd, a glass chimney (we found ours in the lighting section at a hardware store), a candle, and hemp-covered coiled wire from a crafts store. Carve a shallow hole for the pillar candle, place the glass on tip, then use U-pins to make holes to hold the wire.

Decorate Pumpkins with Personality

Four pumpkins with face on lawn

Credit: Jason Donnelly

Welcome a friendly family of cheerful squash to your yard. Cast-off hardware, such as drawer pulls and spigot handles, and a few workbench extras, such as a grinding brush and expired fuses, bring the season's harvest to life. Secure the hardware with nails, or use a hot glue gun ($5, Walmart) as a backup.

Make a Pumpkin Planter

pumpkin planter with fall mums

Credit: Jacob Fox

Spruce up your outdoor space with a chic pumpkin decoration that's blossoming with fall florals. The easy decoration thrives with a combination of autumn flowers, ornamental grasses, and sweet-smelling herbs. This DIY outdoor planter is perfect for your Halloween porch or can be used as subtle backyard decor throughout the fall season.

DIY Seeded Eucalyptus Wreath

seeded eucalyptus wreath fall porch display

Credit: Jacob Fox

Create a layered Halloween display with hay bales, colorful pumpkins, tall ornamental grass, and a stunning fall wreath. The outdoor pumpkin decorations accentuate a simple DIY wreath, which is built from refreshing eucalyptus and threaded with sprigs of berries and mini pine cones. Arrange the wreath in the center of your door and hang with a large ribbon.

Vintage Silverware Pumpkin

Pumpkin with "Fall" spelled with silverware

Credit: Werner Straube

Welcome autumn with this eye-catching pumpkin decorating idea. Head out to your local antique store and pick up a collection of small silverware. Then, arrange them to spell "fall," attach them to your pumpkin with wire or floral pins, and your creation is complete.

Welcoming Fall Chalkboard Sign

Chalkboard sign on door that says "Welcome, Fall"

Credit: Carson Downing

This easy fall welcome sign requires just a small chalkboard, a little paint, and a pretty checkered ribbon. Change your message to welcome guests to your autumn celebrations or wish trick-or-treaters a Happy Halloween.

Pumpkin Planter

pumpkin planter porch decor

Credit: Bob Stefko

Pumpkins in various colors and sizes make beautiful outdoor fall decorations when piled in a planter and placed near your porch or in the backyard. If your planter is too big for your pumpkins, use a block of florists foam ($12, Amazon) to balance the gourds at the top of the fall display.

Fall Outdoor Terrarium

fall pumpkin outdoor terrarium

Credit: Andy Lyons

A bell jar and a shallow terra-cotta bulb dish easily create a fall-inspired terrarium perfect for spotlighting your favorite natural elements. We recommend starting your fall centerpiece with Spanish moss, small pumpkin decorations, and bright leaves. Keep the timeless collection for a harvest decoration that can make an appearance on your outdoor porch every fall.

Fall Cornucopia Centerpiece

fall cornucopia centerpiece with fall produce

Credit: Marty Baldwin

Transform a traditional cornucopia into an outdoor table centerpiece that's absolutely wow-worthy for fall. Shop the supermarket for squash, shallots, onions, nuts, and pears. Pile the Thanksgiving decorations in a woven basket that's treated to withstand autumn weather, along with a few dried naturals from a crafts store, and place the display on any outdoor surface or use as gorgeous fall home decor.

Editor's Tip: For a sweet-smelling fall centerpiece, add potpourri of your choice.

Pumpkin and Milkweed Outdoor Decoration

pumpkin milkweed outdoor fall decoration

Credit: Peter Krumhardt

Let nature set the table with this rustic fall centerpiece. Fill a woven tray with small gourds, mini pumpkin decorations, and a glass vase filled with downy milkweed seeds. Accent the backyard decor with calming shades of brown, gold, and orange.

How to Make an Outdoor Window Box

window box fall display mums and white pumpkins

Credit: Miki Duisterhof

Transform a forgotten space into a fall window box filled with the season's best blooms. Here's how to create a timeless backyard decoration with your favorite autumn florals.

Fall Squash and Foilage

fall squash foliage mantel

Credit: Michael Partenio

Pair bright orange squash with earthy pottery for an outdoor autumn decoration that will impress any guest. Fill the vase with beautiful crab apple branches full of ripe fruits and lush leaves, and place it on a small table near your front door.

Decorative Fall Urn

decorative fall dark colored porch urn

Credit: Scott Little

Guests will ooh and aah over this gorgeous DIY autumn porch decor. To make the fall decoration, cut a square of florists foam and place inside a plastic urn. Cover with Spanish moss (available at crafts stores), keeping the moss in place with green pins. Add a collar of burlap around the urn, and build your arrangement with artificial leaves, berries, Chinese lanterns, dried lotus pods, and other fall favorites.

Harvest Pumpkin Basket

harvest pumpkin squash basket

Credit: Cameron Sadeghpour

Fall home decor is largely associated with the brightly hued harvest. Fill a wicker or woven basket with your favorite fall pumpkin decorations, colorful squash, and other bright gourds. This display can be placed on your doorstep or backyard porch, or used as a bountiful fall centerpiece.

Outdoor Pumpkin with Maple Leaf Design

carved gourd fall display

Credit: Peter Krumhardt

Get creative with your outdoor fall decorating ideas: Dress up your doorstep with a pumpkin designed to fit any sophisticated Halloween or Thanksgiving theme. Trace a maple leaf onto the pumpkin, then use a ribbon tool to scrape out the design of the leaf. Be careful not to cut completely through the pumpkin in order to keep your design fresh.

Backyard Holiday Getaway

backyard patio area with outside furniture

Credit: Bob Stefko

Decorate your back patio in a mix of warm hues and bright fall colors—this effortless backyard decor theme will last from Halloween through Thanksgiving. Buy fall mums and other seasonal plants that fit your color scheme, but don't stop there! Make your patio furniture and pillows match your plants and pots for a seasonal look that's both fun and cohesive.

Gourd Candleholders

gourd candleholder tray with hedge apples

Credit: Marty Baldwin

Gourds easily transform into candleholders by simply cutting off the tops and hollowing out the centers. Set the decorative gourds alongside other natural fall elements, like hedge apples, in a tray for a beautiful outdoor fall centerpiece.

Autumn Raffia Wreath

Take the simple approach to fall outdoor decorating with our autumn-inspired wreath. All you need are orange-color raffia, thin-gauge wire, and an unadorned twig wreath for this easy, eye-catching decoration. Bundle strands of raffia and pinch in the middle. Twist wire around the pinched center and attach to the wreath. Continue all the way around the wreath, being sure to fluff both sides of the raffia bundles so they flow in the same direction as the twigs.

Take the simple approach to fall outdoor decorating with our autumn-inspired wreath. All you need are orange-color raffia, thin-gauge wire, and an unadorned twig wreath for this easy, eye-catching decoration. Bundle strands of raffia and pinch in the middle. Twist wire around the pinched center and attach to the wreath. Continue all the way around the wreath, being sure to fluff both sides of the raffia bundles so they flow in the same direction as the twigs.

Fall Backyard Porch Decor

porch deck furniture with fall decor and flowers

Credit: Marty Baldwin

Decorative lights aren't just for Christmas anymore. Add a string of outdoor lights to porch railings to illuminate your backyard decorations and landscaping on any crisp fall night. This decorative backyard look is just as stunning when used as fall front yard decorations, too!

Welcoming Pumpkin Wheelbarrow

welcome friends fall pumpkin porch display

Credit: Michael Partenio

A wooden wheelbarrow filled with gourds, pumpkins, dried leaves, and berry sprigs makes a beautiful entryway decoration. Work with a variety of pumpkin shapes and colors to achieve a vibrant display that captures the essence of fall. Paint a "welcome friends" message on two large pumpkins, and place them on top of the wheelbarrow. Weave artificial berry vines around the wheelbarrow for a splash of stunning red.

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