Welcome to the 873rd Metamorphosis Monday! Toward the end of September, about a week before I fell and injured my hand, I redid the two window boxes on the front of the Dollhouse. It was time for some fall color!
These were the flowers that I purchased, a mix of orange and yellow florals. I wanted to mix in a few pumpkins, too. It took a bit of trial and error to find the right size pumpkins. They mostly needed to be tall and skinny since the window boxes are not very wide/deep from front to back.
They turned out a bit brighter than I expected!
I was working on a way to raise the two orange pumpkins up a little when I injured my hand, so that’s been delayed. Now that my hand is improving, I think I’ll work on that this week.
I looked for pumpkins that were somewhat realistic-looking, and I wanted a variety of colors. The most expensive pumpkin was the green one in the center; just two of those were $50! $25 per pumpkin is nuts. I thought about returning them, but even the pumpkins I was seeing online at other stores were crazy expensive. Since I plan to use them for a few years and I love how realistic they look, especially the green one, I decided to keep them. Here are the links for the pumpkins and flowers, but unfortunately, the pumpkins I purchased seem to be sold out now at the links where I purchased them. I originally purchased 4 tall orange pumpkins here: Orange Pumpkins. The two green pumpkins were purchased here: Green Pumpkins. The flowers came from here: Autumn Flowers AND here: Autumn Flowers.
To make sure that the pumpkins didn’t fly out of the window boxes on windy days or during a storm, I purchased these garden stakes/tent stakes and hot-glued one to the bottom of each pumpkin. I need to find taller ones for the orange pumpkins, or else add a lot more dirt to the window boxes, so they will stick up a bit higher and be more noticeable amidst all the orange flowers. (Stakes are available here: Plastic Stakes.)
I didn’t have a glue gun here at the Dollhouse, mine is currently in Georgia, so I purchased this one. I really like the base and how easy it is to keep standing up. (Glue gun is available here: Glue Gun.)
I think when I remove the autumn florals and pumpkins to decorate for Christmas, I’ll add more dirt to the boxes to raise everything up a bit. In the meantime, now that my hand is doing better, I’m going to look for something to go under the orange pumpkins to raise them up a bit more. That would add some additional height to this arrangement. And yes, I know it would be nice to have some florals streaming down, but I haven’t been able to find any (for summer or fall) that, to me, looked realistic. All the viney, hanging florals that I’ve seen online look super fake. Hope you enjoyed this autumn makeover! I wonder if I should look for something Halloween-themed to stick in the lower window box—maybe a ghost standing in the corner of the window.
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Oh, the window boxes look wonderful…love the pumpkins!
Thanks so much, Ann!
Hi, Susan. Sometimes I use long wooden skewers in my boxes/planters. I’ve used several for each pumpkin when doing a stack of three. The glue probably holds better but I used the skewers in case I wanted to disassemble them. Good luck! Sometimes it is just trial and error. Once the first one is done the 2nd goes a lot faster!
That sounds like a great idea! Patricia, do you actually stick the skewers through the bottom of the pumpkins? These pumpkins are pretty hard, so I’d probably need to drill little holes into the pumpkins first.
The flowers and pumpkins look great Susan! I’m glad your hand is better enough to continue working on them, though I think they’re more than fine as-is. Yes a friendly little ghost would be cute for Halloween! Thanks for sharing and for hosting. Hope you have a lovely week, and continue to heal!
LOOKIN GOOD!!! franki
Very pretty. You have such a creative mind! Just a thought – since you are not planting real flowers, have you considered blocks of Styrofoam in the boxes? If you stuffed the flower box with the Styrofoam it could hold the wired flowers and if you needed more height, you could use your stakes to add another block of Styrofoam. Looking forward to your December boxes!!!
I had thought about that but wasn’t sure how the styrofoam would hold up when it rained. I should try that, though! It would be less messy when I pull stuff out, too.
I would use Styrofoam too. When people have gutters installed or appliances delivered there are long sticks of hard Styrofoam discarded. Some grocery stores get them in displays. Perfect for projects. Clear floral tape would make sure your Styrofoam wouldn’t come out. Keep your eye out. I cover my Styrofoam with moss or inexpensive Christmas garland (you can’t see it). The flowers look great. I would add waterproof hanging green ivy for contrast. A standing scarecrow, black cat or ghost. Maybe a standing gourd. Is there a Michael’s nearby (big sale) ? A dowel would give you the height you need.
Good luck at the doctor tomorrow.
I have used styrofoam in my planters as well with my artificial flowers and build up the dirt to cover it well – they hold up in the rain, and sometimes I have gotten 2 years out of each block. You may have to cut the block to fit. The fall flowers look great !
What you’ve done with the window boxes is pure genius.
Kisses to your kittens and grandsons!
Wendy http://www.theInspiredEater.com
Susan – the boxes look great! I love decorating for fall. If I need to elevate pumpkins/gourds in my arrangements I use bricks of oasis or even plastic containers that are used for leftovers.
I bought a beautiful Fall wreath from the Amazon link you had posted for your Spring wreath. I purchased the spring wreath & it was gorgeous & the fall wreath sold by the same vendor is just as wonderful. The price of the wreaths did go up about $10 each. Probably due to the tariffs 🙁 Your window boxes look great!
Have you ever shopped on Poshmark? They do have a home section on their platform and it’s a nice way to shop gently used decor at reasonable prices. They do have the faux pumpkins on there.
Thank you for this info! I thought it only did clothes.
Heading there right now!
Wendy
Love the new look for the flower boxes. Perhaps a black cat in the lower one?
Love that idea!
Your window boxes are perfect! The street view of the Dollhouse is striking! Hope the neighborhood can stand it!
I love the look, and I love the house!
Looks great. Very festive. I picked up fake pumpkins and gourds at the thrift shop. I only have a box on my deck so I don’t need to match boxes but it certaly cheaper!
Window boxes look pretty. I use styrofoam and pebbles. I put stems with fall leaves, stems with pinecones with a urn in middle with flowers this year. You’ll have fun decorating the window boxes each year.
Good to know you’re back doing a few things. Love the flower boxes. Yes, the flowers are bright so the orange pumpkins kind of get lost. I like the idea of ivy hanging over someone suggested. Also like suggestions other than dirt for fill as you don’t plan to actually plant live or do you? That is a cute idea to have a ghost in the window. When you get to the porch and add pumpkins/fall décor all the colors will come together. You’ve inspired me to get going on getting out all of my decorations!
Looks great, Susan! What a fabulous curb appeal. That dollhouse is so adorable!
What a great idea using the stakes to secure the pumpkins, I’m going to try that. In my boxes I use a garland of grapevine and pinecones that I purchased from HL a few years ago. Then I add fall foliage. I late fall, I change out the fall flowers for holidays with pine and dried florals that last through the winter.
I love how the flower boxes look…So pretty!!
Thanks so much for hosting this wonderful party!! I really appreciate the time and effort that goes into it along with visiting all the links!! I hope you are having a great week!!
Hugs,
Deb
Debbie-Dabble Blog
The flower boxes look wonderful they glow!!! I have a large planter that I decorate during christmas with fresh and artificial items I leave soil the bottom for real plants in the summer but add a layer of cedar mulch on top so the artificial items don’t get muddy. I think it looks a little tidier than styrofoam would.
Your window boxes look great! I know several people recommend using styrofoam instead of dirt. You can also use floral foam. It is heavier and more dense than styrofoam.
Your window boxes always look so pretty and very realistic. Just finished reading your last few previous posts; what a fall you had! Glad to hear you’re on the mend. At 75, I’ve started noticing that my balance isn’t as good as it was last year and have started doing balance exercises for that–hope they help. Your new fur babies sound precious. Hugs!