Heirloom Pumpkins in January - What????

CCC

First up, how much is that doggy in the window?

I  posted before in the autumn about my love for heirloom pumpkins both for their beauty and their longevity. I got all these celadon pumpkins back in September for fall and Halloween decorating. After Halloween they were still perfect so I decided to keep them until Thanksgiving. 

Orange & Blue Chinoiserie for Autumn

CCC Alexandria

This vignette is from the dining room in my former home in Alexandria, Virginia. It was wonderful in the autumn especially with its orange chinoiserie toile wallpaper. The wallpaper is Clarence House Chinoiserie Baroque. I miss it, but luckily I had enough left over to wallpaper my powder room here in Florida.

A Blue Halloween

London - Explore the Pretty

It's Friday the Thirteenth, so let's do a Halloween post. I thought this was fun Halloween decorating inspiration with its blue skeletons and blue pumpkins. Acrylic craft paint works great for painting pumpkins. Use spray paint for the skeletons. Do you see how the skeleton on the left is reading a book?

A Chic Halloween

Plaza Flowers NYC

Danielle Rollins posted this wonderful Halloween front entrance by Plaza Flowers NYC. So creative! I love the blue and the white heirloom pumpkins and mini white pumpkins and the black and white painted pumpkins. Here are some more chic ideas for decorating for Halloween in style.

Sophisticated Halloween Decorating

Martha Stewart

 

Who else loves decorating for Halloween? I adore it. For years, my daughter and I would duplicate the Halloween craft ideas from Martha Stewart Living.

Chinoiserie Halloween @ CCC

CCC

 

Yesterday I went to Whole Foods in search of wonderful heirloom pumpkins and boy did I hit pay dirt. It was like a tony non-messy adult pumpkin patch - thankfully, as I had just come from the hairdresser. They had the most gorgeous heirloom pumpkins from a farm in Illinois. My Norwegian grandmother Ada grew up on a farm in Illinois. There I was buying organic heirloom pumpkins from Illinois in South Florida - wild! 

Halloween Decorating & Cooking

Amanda Lindroth - House Beautiful

I'm excited to start planning some outdoor decorating for fall and Halloween. My inspiration is this wonderful space above by Amanda Lindroth - I love the orange and white cabana stripe awning. 

Halloween at CCC

CCC

 I love decorating for Halloween. I received my John Derian black weeping willow from Target yesterday and it joins my Target skull pineapples. So fun!

My raffia pumpkins from Target - 

A glimpse of the breakfast room - 

I love my blue pumpkin - I would like a couple more, but this is the only one that I have found so far. I got it a couple of weeks ago and there is zero deterioration to date. One trick I read to prevent rotting is to clean it with a Clorox or antibacterial wipe which I didn't have, so I washed it with soap and water and rubbed it down with hand sanitizer - LOL. True story.

Bells & Whistles @ CCC

CCC

 I made a Publix run yesterday, and treated myself to some pretties for the house. Roses were on sale $10.99 for 2 dozen gorgeous roses. Here is the first arrangement on my coffee table.

CCC

And peach roses in a wicker hurricane. I bought this at HG for candles, but it makes a great vase.

CCC

And a beautiful heirloom pumpkin. This grey one is named Jarrahdale and is more common in New Zealand and Australia. It is often used to make desserts.

CCC

It's so nice to be done with the heavy lifting at the house and to be able to spend time on beautiful details like this. Later this morning I have on tap a great Bloody Mary and Scottish Smoked Salmon. Living well is the best revenge. Happy Sunday and stay safe.

Pumpkins

Heirloom pumpkins

 I LOVE decorating for Halloween and my favorite part is all the heirloom pumpkins/squash available nowadays. Trader Joe's is a great source, but many other grocery store chains now offer them. I much prefer the colors and textures of the heirloom like white, blue, and peach. I think they are gorgeous and traditional orange pumpkins are not my thing.

I raised the issue yesterday of pumpkins lasting in my new hot tropical climate. I am talking here uncarved pumpkins. I used to display mine through Thanksgiving in NOVA.

I learned a couple tricks I intend to try to extend their life. These techniques work anywhere - pumpkins do not like cold, heat, or rain.

First, clean your pumpkin with diluted bleach or a bleach disinfectant wipe to kill mold and bacteria. 

Second, coat the pumpkin with acrylic, paste wax, WD-40, or Vaseline. Those decorative gourds they sell, for example, are coated with varnish and last for years.

These techniques should extend the life of your pumpkins even in hot climates. 

A Chinoiserie Thanksgiving

Domino

These gold, silver, and copper leaf pumpkins would be a beautiful centerpiece for your Chinoiserie table setting. This look could be achieved with either the metal leaf sheets or Liquid Gold available in gold, silver, and copper. Heirloom pumpkins that are so heavily ribbed would give the best look. I still have all of mine from Halloween uncarved so I am going to try this myself.

Pumpkins

My gold pagoda chandelier is being installed in my dining room today and I am so excited. You can read more about its journey to my Chinoiserie home here and here. Tomorrow I will be posting on my progress in my One Room Challenge laundry room. The laundry room is quickly becoming one of my favorite rooms in my house. I even love doing laundry. How many people can say that?

I went to Trader Joe's yesterday and bought a whole group of beautiful heirloom pumpkins for my entrances. I've always disliked the traditional orange pumpkins, but the heirlooms in peach, celadon, white, and gray are stunning. I even have two on a pair of Chinese garden stools at my side entrance. The heirlooms have a subtlety and elegance to them, I think.

I also decided to add a couple of pumpkins to my dining room sideboard - a vintage orange sequined pumpkin and a gold leaf one.

I hope you'll come back tomorrow to see my laundry room with the Brunschwig & Fils wallpaper up. If you'd like to catch up on the One Room Challenge, you can click on the link in my sidebar.

A Chinoiserie Halloween

Is there really such a thing as Chinoiserie Halloween decorating? In the strictest sense of the word, of course the answer is no. But if you love Chinoiserie, I suspect that your aesthetic is similar to mine. You either skip Halloween decorating all together because you can't stand orange and the tacky decorations that abound, or you are still seeking a more elegant approach to the holiday. These are ideas I use for my own home. First, find a pumpkin patch or garden center that sells beautiful heirloom pumpkins like I've pictured here. Blue-gray, celadon green, salmon, peach, apricot, white-you won't believe the colors-none of that garish orange. Specialty grocery stores and farmer's markets are great sources for a huge variety of exotic squashes. These beautiful pumpkins, gourds, and squashes are perfecting for decorating indoors and out. Second, ordinary pumpkins, gourds, and squashes can be transformed into stunning and sophisticated decor with gold, silver, or copper leaf, paint, or glitter. Directions abound on the internet-here's a great step by step. Halloween can beautifully coexist in your elegant and chic Chinoiserie home. The picture above is an antique silver Chinoiserie pumpkin! I promise to do a follow up Chinoiserie Halloween post later this week when I get my own home decorated to show you some more ideas.

(Photos courtesy of Martha Stewart Living, Country Living, and The Arizona Republic)