I have written about the window boxes on the front of our century home in the past. This spring was the first time that I attempted to plant something in them. It was generally a success. The boxes looked really nice with plants in them and the self-watering system we installed seemed to work really well. However, last month we had the window boxes and shutters painted black to match the work we had done on the front door. As a result, the many of the plants in the boxes had to be ripped out so that they didn’t mess up the new paint. Because the window boxes now looked very sad and uneven, I decided it was time to pull out the plants and transition to fall décor. Below is an overview of how I made my easy fall window box inserts.
First, I did a lot of research on Pinterest. I sometimes find Pinterest intimidating. A search for ‘fall window boxes’ yields gorgeous arrangements of live plants that cost hundreds of dollars. With four window boxes to decorate, this didn’t seem reasonable. Instead, I opted for a faux arrangement that I could plop in the boxes year after year. Using some images I found on Pinterest as inspiration, I decided to go for a faux pumpkins and ivy look.
I was thankfully able to find enough faux pumpkins at the local Hobby Lobby. I needed 20 pumpkins because I planned to put five in each window box. My local Michaels was very picked-over. Both stores had already started clearing out fall décor to make way for Christmas décor. I would like to point out that I was shopping last week- the second week of October- and I had a hard time finding fall décor. Lesson learned, I guess. I also found an ivy garland that I liked at Hobby Lobby that was in their faux floral department (it wasn’t a seasonal item).
Once I had the necessary supplies, putting the arrangements together was fairly straight-forward. I used floral foam as a base. I first had to use wire cutters to trim the wire picks on the pumpkins, stuck them into the foam, and secured them with hot glue. Because I was using standard floral foam bricks, I had to glue three bricks together end-to-end in order to get the size I needed for the window box. I used toothpicks in addition to hot glue to secure the brick pieces together.
Once the pumpkins were in place, I added the ivy garland to cover the floral foam and add some additional color to the arrangements. (If you are new to flower arranging, there are numerous tutorials on YouTube that are very helpful.) I used greening pins along with hot glue to secure the ivy into place.
The final step was to place the arrangements in each of the window boxes. I used plant stakes to punch through the foam and into the soil to secure the arrangements in the boxes. So far, the arrangements are holding up very well (it’s been about a week). They have already survived some rain and decent winds, so I am hopeful they will hold up for the rest of the season and for many years to come. This project could easily be adapted to your seasonal décor preferences. You could use faux gourds instead of pumpkins or faux fall leaf garland instead of ivy.
Tools Used
- Faux pumpkins
- Faux ivy garland
- Floral foam bricks
- Wire cutters
- Hot glue gun and glue sticks
- Toothpicks
- Greening pins
- Plant stakes
If you are looking for an easy, reusable fall window box idea, I hope this has been helpful. Window boxes aren’t especially common in northeast Ohio and I am learning as I go. I am quite happy with these boxes as I feel that they add subtle fall decor without being overwhelming.
How do you decorate your window boxes and planters for fall? Let me know what other ideas you have!
If you are looking for more DIY décor ideas, check out my post on how we made a tabletop fire pit or how we made a concrete tabletop.
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