by Candace Williams

Created on: September 22, 2010

How to achieve that special look without a lot of time and money. Sprucing up the yard can be fun if you finish with some extra touches of decoration for Halloween. The simplest way to so this is to place reminders of the fall harvest season on your porch,in your window boxes and in the yard. If you put decorations out which will work all through the fall from Halloween to Thanksgiving you can enjoy the look without a lot of putting up and taking down. So

using natural objects which are fairly long lasting can be a great way to decorate simply.

What would work well

Hay or straw bales can be a good choice for a starter in the yard. Corn shocks can be another good basic decoration which will stand there and look interesting all through the fall. Indian corn in bunches will keep well and can decorate a door or be placed on or beside a bale of hay or straw. Gourds and pumpkins of various sizes can be strewn or piled. These can be placed in window boxes too in replacement of the flowers which were there all summer.

Fall Flowers

Chrysanthemums are wonderful fall flowers and are widely available in potted form as are Asters. These can be popped into containers which housed summer flowers or into window boxes. They can also look really nice if simply placed on steps or porch. You may want to move them around and when the blossoms fade they can be removed with very little trouble.

Dried flowers in tight bouquets or made into wreaths are another excellent option. These can add a nice touch of color to a door or to a porch or window. They last and last so you don't have to change them out very quickly as you do with fresh bouquets.

Jack o Lanterns

Carved pumpkins are used effectively to decorate too. One or more of these can be a real show. Just pick a stencil to use and then carve out a design by placing the stencil on the outside and then carving through it. Place a candle inside the pumpkin and you have the traditional lantern. One interesting option to note is that if you cut the bottom off the pumpkins instead of the top then you can replace the top on this circle of pumpkin bottom which has a candle standing on it. This way you will not risk burning yourself trying to reach down into the pumpkin to light a candle. 

Of course these carved pumpkins will not last as long as uncut ones will as decorations. The jack o lanterns will begin to spoil after a few days and will need to be removed then. So keep an eye on them to watch for the start of spoilage.

There is very little making needed if you use the natural harvest theme. It fits the whole of Autumn and will make your yard look really festive. It's an idea that doesn't go out of date. And the cost is nominal. The whole family can get into the job of decorating if you use these types of objects to decorate your home this year. With all the interest in "going green" you will be going right down that route too. And when you are done with these items you can recycle them either by using them for food or putting them on your compost heap or some other person's compost pile to help next year's garden grow nice and green and lush.

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