• Fall Flower Arrangingpot of dried plants image by Craig Hanson from Fotolia.com
  
  Be inventive with fall flower arrangements and find inspiration in the traditions of the season. The colors and textures of fall flowers are distinctive and often vivid oranges and golden yellows. Mix them with browns and greens and unusual containers for an eclectic, harvest-themed centerpiece your guests will remember.
  
  

Raid the Kitchen

• Pull out an old pudding tin or brioche mold from the back of the kitchen cupboard and set it center stage at your fall dinner party. Fit a plastic container inside the tin to hold water and flowers. Then mass plenty of orange marigolds and yellow chrysanthemums in the tin---cutting the stems to keep them short enough to just clear the top of the mold. Tuck in a few fig branches or other dark, glossy greens for contrast and put the centerpiece on a wood trivet or cork round to protect table finish or tablecloth.
  
  

Autumn Ikebana

• Use a beautiful raku pot for a serene autumn table. The Japanese arts of ikebana flower arranging and raku clay firing combine for a truly original centerpiece. First select a low pot with a wide opening and place a plastic or metal container inside the pot. Raku pots are quick-fired and then plunged into closed containers of flammable material. They remain porous, unlike fully-fired pottery which can hold water. Use florists' clay in the inner container to hold a simple arrangement of a bare, twisting branch, a mid-height purple alium and a few low yellow or orange gerbera daisies.
  
  

Pumpkin Pot

• Repurpose a small or medium-size pumpkin as a vase with some help from the kids. Cut the top off the pumpkin---making a wide opening--and let some industrious helpers scoop out the pulp and seeds with tablespoons. The seeds can be rinsed off and toasted in the oven with sea salt for a seasonal treat. Rinse out the cleaned pumpkin and pat dry. Put a low plastic food container or bowl inside the hollowed pumpkin. Repack as many pansy plants as you can cram into the plastic container. The pansies should be massed tightly together to form one low orb of flowers and greens, mounded over the opening of the pumpkin. (If you have recently watered the pansies, they will last longer in this centerpiece. You can purchase a flat of pansies to get a quantity of pansy plants at a discount.) Set the pumpkin full of pansies on a pretty charger or dinner plate in the middle of the table. Mist the pansies daily to keep them fresh. Pumpkins make equally good pots for sunflower blooms, cut short and anchored in florists' clay.