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Fall is one of my favorite times of year. Crackling fires, warm cider, and a landscape full of beautiful earth tones, all bring feelings of coziness and peace. Decorating for fall has always been a special time that I’ve enjoyed, and as I’ve gotten older, I savor the quiet moments of decorating for this special season even more.

I would consider myself more of a seasonal decorator and I aim to keep my seasonal decor classic and timeless. My signature style is very much rooted in the beautiful neutral earth tones that you see in the landscape, so there isn’t much change I make to my home in the fall honestly. In fact, for the most part my fall decorating consists of bringing in some seasonal stems and incorporating some kind of natural element. For fall and winter, my go-to natural element has always been pinecones. This year, I was inspired to add something a little extra for fall when I was browsing an antique store in Augusta, GA recently.

While my husband and I were wandering through a booth in an antique mall, we were stopped in our tracks - not because of something we saw, but because the smell was out-of-this-world delicious! There, in a small bowl right in front of us, were tiny cinnamon pumpkin decorations. I was hooked and wanted to try to create my own for the fall season.

Here’s how I created mine…

Supplies:

7.5 oz of ground cinnamon
2.5 cups of cinnamon apple sauce
3 tablespoons of glue
Small twigs ranging in sizes
Butter knife
Mixing bowl
Cookie sheet/drying rack

Process:

Add the cinnamon and apple sauce together in a large mixing bowl. Stir thoroughly.
Add in the glue. Stir thoroughly.
Gather a small portion of dough in your hand and roll it into a ball.
Place the cinnamon ball onto the cookie sheet and flatten the top slightly. **Vary the size of the dough to match the size you want for your pumpkins - I did sizes ranging from a 1 1/2 inch to 2 1/2 inches in diameter.
Repeat the process until all the dough has been rolled into a ball and placed onto the cookie sheet.
Using the straight side of a butter knife, start at the base and gently press the knife into the side of each ball and roll the knife up to the top to create the pumpkin ridge/line. Create 6 ridges on each pumpkin.
Select a pre-cut stem and press the stem down into the center of the pumpkin. Repeat this process until all pumpkins have ridges and stems.

Drying Your Pumpkins

I tried two different methods for drying my pumpkins - air drying and baking. My recommendation is to allow them to air dry.

Air Drying (recommended)

Allow pumpkins to air dry for several days (the length of time will depend on the size of your pumpkins). I allowed these one to sit for 4 days.

Baking

Preheat oven to 200 degrees.
Back for 1 hour, checking them frequently to prevent burning or breaking. **When I used this method, even despite checking multiple times, mine still burned (oops!). This didn’t bother me, however, because it just gave me a little more variety to decorate with. To avoid burning, I recommend letting them air dry.

September 2024 Update: One question I was asked back in 2023, was if there is a substitute for the apple sauce due to a fear of drawing gnats. I have made these pumpkins multiple times at this point, and I can report that this has not been an issue at all any time I have made them as someone living in the Midwest. These pumpkins completely dry out and stay set due to the glue and the only thing I have experience each time is the delicious smell of cinnamon filling our home.

Time to Decorate!

Once all your pumpkins are dried out, place them around your house to bring the smell and sight of fall to your home. I like to add them to bowls, gather them next to candles, and use them as fillers in my dining table centerpiece.