These flower arrangements made in a hollow pumpkin are the cutest!  They are perfect for Halloween and easily carry over into November for fall decorating.  

My husband taught his floral design students how to make these pumpkin flower arrangements.  

First you cut the top of the pumpkin off.  You don't need it anymore since your pumpkin is essentially now a vase.  Next scoop out all of the seeds and stringy strands  until the inside is pretty clean like this.  

You will put floral foam inside the pumpkin to hold water and the flowers. Once you position the moistened floral foam, start adding flowers until you get a full rounded shape with some height in the center (aim for about 1.5 times the height of the pumpkin). If you are making a centerpiece, it should not have a front and a back.  You want it to look good all around since it will be seen on all sides.                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

This pumpkin flower arrangement makes such a lovely fall centerpiece.  

My husband demonstrating how to make floral pumpkin arrangements at Pumpkin Daze at the arboretum. My seven year old made the square styrofoam jack-o-lantern by carving a solid block of styrofoam. He brought his jack-o-lantern to decorate at the arboretum too. He's such a sweet and creative kid and he is always making something.  

One of my husband's students helped demonstrate at Pumpkin Daze and created this elegant pumpkin arrangement with floral sprays extending from each side.  

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​I have fallen in love with our new house.  It is a 1920's farm house with lots of character and charm.  It's not perfect (a garage and finished basement would be nice), but it suits us well and we have been so happy here since we moved in August.  One of my favorite things about this house are the fireplaces.  There is one in the living room (pictured) and one in the study (baby's room).  For the first 14 years of our marriage we lived in an apartment and then two homes without fireplaces so I really appreciate having a mantel to decorate now.  

So this is our fall mantel.  It's kind of a hodgepodge of different things, but I think it comes together well.  When we had our newborn three weeks ago, my husband arranged for a graduate student in horticulture to teach his floral design class for him one day and she made this beautiful arrangement for us.  We thought it was the perfect centerpiece for the mantel.  This is also a great place to showcase some of the kids' recent art pieces.  I added some family photographs and the kids added some pressed leaf prints they made at Horticulture club (a little perk of having a daddy who is a hort professor).  When I was on limited activity before the baby was born, my husband took the boys to a gourd festival and they brought home all of the gourds you see on the mantel.  The boys actually decided to decorate with their gourds and arranged them on their own.  I think they did a nice job.

Another thing I love about the fireplace is that the wall above it is painted a lighter color than the rest of the living room.  It pops and gives a nice contrast with the dark brick and the light brown walls and lightens up the space.  

What are your favorite fall decorating tips?  
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I feel like I have been holding out on you, but it has not been on purpose.  The fact is having a new baby in the house is exhausting, even and especially the 4th time around.  

We are overjoyed to announce the birth of our son!  He was born on September 30th weighing in at 7 pounds 7 ounces.  I made it a policy not to use my children's names on my blog years ago to protect them so I have to leave that piece of information out.

Big brothers love their new baby brother and are so excited each time they get to hold him.  

Snuggling up with Daddy.

First car ride (home from the hospital)
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We have had two weeks with additional help from each set of grandparents and are on our own now. The help was wonderful and we loved spending time with family.  It was awesome to share this joyous occasion with them.  Babies are such a blessing and they grow up way too fast.  I'm going to enjoy some baby snuggles this afternoon (in between napping) if I can keep my eyes open.  :)

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Disclosure:  I received complimentary products in exchange for an honest review.  

He chose this "The Clone Wars Commander Cody" costume and the "Clone Trooper Blaster" (sold separately).  My son loves this costume with all of the details and the really cool helmet.  The helmet has a front and a back piece that velcro together to form the clone trooper helmet.  The helmet pieces seem to fit together well, but can come apart easily during play too.  When they come apart, you can just put them back together again.  

This "The Clone Wars Commander Cody" costume not only looks good, it is flexible and easy to wear for dress-up play too.  I'm sure this costume will get hours of play long after Halloween has passed.  

The boys are all excited about the Clone Trooper Blaster.  They love playing with it and when they pull the trigger, it plays authentic Star Wars movie sounds.  It takes two AAA batteries (not included).  

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