Decorating ideas for Halloween from your garden

You don’t have to go far to start decorating for Halloween and it doesn’t have to be expensive. Why don’t you just have a look in your garden first and let your imagination go wild! For example, have you ever tried to make a Pumpkin Owl? An easy to create pumpkin owl with no intricate patterns or pumpkin carving skills and it’s an adorable way to greet your Halloween guests and trick-or-treaters. All you need is:  1 large pumpkin, 1 medium pumpkin, 3 small white or yellow pumpkins, sharp knife, toothpicks, newspaper to work on, tablespoon to scoop seeds out and a permanent marker. Take the large pumpkin to use as the body of the owl and the 3 small or yellow pumpkins as eyes, beak, ears and feet. Cut one of the small pumpkins in half to act as the eyes of the owl, place them in position and use the toothpicks to keep them in place. For the beak, feet and ears, use a sharp knife to cut slices out of the small pumpkins. Remove seeds and put them in place with toothpicks. On the 2^nd big pumpkin you can write “BOO! ” with a permanent marker and place it next to your owl pumpkin. Check out this gorgeous example from www.hgtv.com! They have lots of great ideas for decorating your home and garden.

Check out this gorgeous example from www.hgtv.com

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Another idea would be, if you have any long ornamental grasses in your garden, to cut a large bunch of them and make Witchy Broomsticks! Spooky Halloween table settings and decorations:  Small pumpkins: Spray paint them black. Paint white skulls on them and put them in a big glass bowl on the table. You can also take dry tree branches and spray paint them black and use them to decorate your mantelpiece. For a bit of height, put a few black candle holders between them and round it off with a few small orange pumpkins. For a Halloween wreath: Take anything from your garden that is dry, from seedpods to leaves to dry branches or even dried flowers. Spray-paint them orange and fasten them with florist wire to a foam wreath form. Once everything is in place, loop a wide ribbon around it to indoors or out.

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Or what about a black pumpkin cat? Again take a big pumpkin and paint it black. Glue 2 cat eyes onto the pumpkin and cut out a few strips of paper for the whiskers and a red triangle for the nose. For the ears, cut 2 black triangles of paper. You can even put a big black witches hat on your cats head! Then place him on a heap of autumn leaves next to your front door. With a couple of ideas, you can add some personality to your entry and welcome trick-or-treaters. Give it a try and Happy Halloween! Monica Schmidt, Horticulturalist at Powerscourt Garden Pavilion