Decorate pumpkins with kitchen ingredients

Pumpkins aren't just for Halloween you know! A few simple and inexpensive items from your kitchen can make a plain pumpkin the centerpiece of your autumnal decor.

I apologize if the photo looks a little strange but it's a scan of a photo I took with a film camera (gasp!) two years ago.

How I did it:

I bought a white pumpkin at a local farm and glued red beans and star anise on it in a pattern. I didn't even plot out my design, I just started in the middle and worked from there. It wasn't difficult and it honestly didn't even take that long and I loved how it turned out. I'm a little embarrassed to say how long I kept this pumpkin in my living room...suffice to say it didn't get tossed until it started to rot and that was long after October had come and gone. *blush*

You can see to the right of it, I clipped a few branches off the red maple (by then the leaves had turned a gorgeous dark purply color) and stuck them in a glass vase with no water or anything! Poor little branches. But they dried and I was able to keep them around for months as well. I may be cheap but I want it to last. :)