The Easiest 5 Minute Autumn Tablescape

A bumper pumpkin harvest

At this time of year, beautiful Autumn tablescapes are appearing all over Pinterest as bloggers start showcasing their beautifully decorated homes.

I would always look at those Pinterest pins and think that I would never be able to create something as beautiful myself.

Where I live, every Autumn, the Farmers sell their pumpkin harvest from roadside kiosks and I usually pick up a few to carve into Halloween lanterns. This year I spied some lovely pumpkins in a bluish grey colour and decided to get one and try my hand at designing an Autumn tablescape myself.

As a base for the tablescape, I used an old piece of slate which I’ve had for years. I originally intended to make a sign for our house with the slate but that‘s still on my list of things to do so in the meantime I use it for various decorating ideas or as a prop for blog photos.

First of all, I just sat the pumpkin on one side of the slate. I surrounded the pumpkin with the ‘lambs ears’ (Stachys byzantina) and tucked them underneath the pumpkin.

Finding the perfect flowers

The sedums are just starting to bloom in our garden and the dark pink colour was a perfect contrast to the blue-grey of the pumpkin. These compact flower heads last a long time even without water so they are great for using in flower arrangements. I cut the stems pretty short and tucked them in around the pumpkin.

Next, I started to fill in with sprigs of lavender and catmint. Lastly, I took some small pinecones and tucked them in here and there to provide a bit more texture.

Now, I could have stopped there. My Autumn tablescape was looking pretty good I thought but then I remembered the pretty little cups I had picked up from a thrift store over the Summer.

Shimmering thrift store goblets

These little goblets came with a decanter and matching tray. I walked right past them in the shop at first. Then I noticed that, wherever I was in the shop, my eyes kept being drawn towards them and that was when I knew I would be taking them home with me. I got the whole set for €4. The gold finish is wearing away on the decanter stopper but other than that they are perfect.

The set was almost the same colour as the pumpkin in my Autumn tablescape so I decided to use three of the little goblets as flower vases.

The roses I used are from my David Austin ramble rose ‘Lady of the Lake’. This rambler made its debut at the Chelsea Flower Show in 2014 which also happened to coincide with my first ever visit to the show! One whiff of this beautifully scented rose and I was hooked. I ordered one for our garden the minute we arrived home.

If you’re thinking of buying a ramble rose yourself I can definitely recommend 'Lady of the Lake'. Mine’s in its third year now and is just starting to take off and shoot up the climbing arch it’s planted next to. The flowers have the most intense lemony/citrus kind of smell and remind me of the sherbet we used to buy from a little shop on our way home from school when I was a kid – lovely roses, lovely memories!