3 DIY home decor ideas for the fall

There's no better (or easier) way to bring rich fall colours to life in your home than bringing the outside in.  Pumpkin vases and dried grasses make for stunning arrangements and why wait until Christmas to hang a wreath on your door when you can delight trick-or-treaters at Halloween?

Move over, Martha! Remove the top of a medium-sized pumpkin and scrape out seeds and pulp, as you would for a jack-o-lantern.

1. Then in the bottom, cut a hole slightly larger than an ordinary canning jar that will fit comfortably inside the pumpkin.
2. Fill the jar with water, and add your flowers.
3. You can cut the pumpkin a day or two in advance if you have a cool, shaded place to store it (outside, if the weather is cooperative).
4. Wrap the pumpkin inside and out with several layers of wet paper towels, rewetting the towels as needed.

To make an eye-pleasing dried arrangement for a fall mantle, coffee table or sideboard, fill a plain, tall glass vase or deep glass bowl with brown rice, dried beans, or bird seed — simple staples that will not only support your arrangement but also look surprisingly elegant.

• You could also go on a hike and collect dried grasses, cattails, thistle, milkweed and other long-stemmed flora.

Add some ghoulish fun to the mix when trick-or-treaters come to the door. Some of the essentials, including a magazine and spent flowers, are probably right at hand in your house or yard.

1. Tear pages from a magazine and crumple the paper to make something resembling a chrysanthemum bloom. The resemblance doesn't have to be close; you're going for an effect, not realism.
2. Using a glue gun, glue the "flowers" to cover the wreath form, then spray the wreath and flowers with black paint. So you won't saturate the paper, apply the paint in several layers, letting it dry between coats.
3. If you have some dead and dry garden leftovers, such as purple coneflowers, zinnias, or magnolia leaves, glue them into the wreath. To finish, tie wide red ribbon diagonally around the wreath and let the ends trail. Or tie a bow if you have extra ribbon.
4. Hang the wreath on your front door and wait for the arrival of small goblins armed with vampire teeth and paper bags.

These colourful fall home decor ideas will fill your home with a taste of the outdoors — and you can do it all yourself in no time at all.