Last night, my house was full of succulents, pumpkins, girlfriends, food, and one really amazing florist. It was kind of my dream come true. You know those super pretty pumpkins with succulents “in” them? Well my friend Moranda Fielding taught us to make our own, and it was SO fun! They are the perfect Thanksgiving centerpiece and/or gift for whoever is hosting you for Thanksgiving. And they last for literally weeks, so much more longevity than a regular floral arrangement. Another fun fact – you can pot the succulents after you’re done with the pumpkin and regrow them for next year ;).
I was having a little bit too much fun to take proper pictures, but here are some phone snaps along with some tips!
First of all, you don’t CARVE the pumpkin! Like, at all! That’s why it last for so long. Here’s what you DO do –
- Pick your pumpkin and gather some succulents you love, along with some moss. Moranda brought us some amazing pumpkins she’d been collecting, along with succulents she clipped from her own yard.
- Using a hot glue gun (I Amazon-primed myself a few of these to make sure we had enough) and working in sections, attach moss (we started with some grey Spanish moss) to your pumpkin to create sort of a pillow for your succulents.
- Pick a few main succulents to start with and center your work around. We were lucky to have Moranda’s succulents, but I recommend going to the closest nursery, Home Depot, or even your grocery store might have a variety!
- Bend a piece of floral wire in half, poke it through the succulent stem, and then poke both ends all the way through the pumpkin to secure it.
- Continue filling in with smaller succulents until you have the look you want. Moranda had us hang some down the side, and I loved that!
- When you’re all done placing your succulents, you can use the hot glue gun again to fill in the sides and gaps in the middle with some more pretty moss (we used a greener reindeer moss for this!).
Shop supplies online here:
I have to say, I was SO impressed with how everyone’s pumpkins turned out – they were legit. And we all had so much fun doing it – I recommend doing this as a “Girls-giving” (that’s what Blake called it!) with your friends. I want to make it a tradition! If you want to do your own, here are some more ideas:
- Activity. Find a craft that’s easy enough to do on your own, or find someone like Moranda who can teach! (If you live in Southern California, she does teach classes!!)
- Food. Since it’s fall, I wanted to serve soup. Plus then it would be ready whenever anyone felt like eating throughout the night. I did a chicken chowder (recipe from the Whole30 book!), a red pepper tomato soup, fresh sourdough bread, and a pumpkin cornbread (gluten free) that my mother in law sent me a recipe for – I’ll post the recipe soon! Other girlfriends brought a meat & cheese platter and a pumpkin pie cake for dessert.
Shoutout to R.A.W. Restorations for my dining table. I fell in love with it all over again last night when everyone was able to stand around it making their pumpkins, and I love that with the way the wood was restored I don’t have to worry about it getting ruined with glue and crafting. Now I’m brainstorming what else I can have them make…;). Follow them here to see more amazing creations.
And now it officially feels like Thanksgiving around here!! Good luck – let me know if you have any questions.
xx
Jen
OOTD
