Getting this post in just under the wire, but I'm happy to do so for the sake of prosperity. For the past two years I've happily blogged about taking trips to the pumpkin patch with my favorite person in the world, my brother, Jack. Unfortunately, this year I didn't get to make it home in time for our usual pumpkin patching shenanigans. In the "real world" there's no more fall breaks to get you through. Instead, this year, my boyfriend and I decided to head to a very small pumpkin patch not too far from our town.

There were bigger pumpkin patches around with petting zoos, cardboard cut outs, hayrides, corn-mazes, thousands of pumpkins, and sweet fair food. However, those patches cost about $10 to get in and that just didn't sit well for us because we wouldn't be utilizing all the fun, more kid-oriented things. If we would've had Jack with us? Well that would have been a totally different story! We figured we would save the entry $ and throw it at buying more pumpkins, which was perfectly okay in my book.

After finding a small, family-run pumpkin patch (that happened to be free) we headed there. Several gravel roads later we found ourselves pulling up to the tiniest, quaintest little pumpkin patch run by a husband and wife duo. They had a large field full of pumpkins for those who wanted to pick their own. For those that didn't, they had a full, open mouthed tent full of different pumpkin and gourd varieties. They also had some of the biggest pumpkins I'd ever seen! The wife told me that earlier in the day that they had just sold someone a pumpkin over 100 pounds. Isn't that crazy?

We took our time browsing in the notoriously too-warm-for-October Arkansas weather. We examined each pumpkin with care and began curating a selection of our favorites. We went with a mid-sized traditional orange pumpkin and two small white pie pumpkins. We made out under just $10, which was the real perk. They were selling the pumpkins for the amount equivalent to half the weight of the pumpkin. For example, a twelve pound pumpkin came out to about $6. Sweet! Why can't this pricing method be put in place for just about everything?

We took one small picture together, but we both decided that we basically dislike it. However, it's the only one we got, so I'm going to cherish it. There's just something about having your picture taken by a complete stranger *real quickly* that just never seems to turn out quite right. Am I right?

Later that night, I painted the pumpkins. I went for something really simple and timeless. I used black, orange, and white acrylic craft paint, a medium sized paintbrush, and a clear coat to protect both the pumpkin and the paint. I highly recommend the clear coat. Acrylic craft paint comes off easily with water (a great tip if you mess up while painting, btw) so if you want to keep pumpkins safe from the elements a clear coat will do the trick. Also, I quite like the shiny look.

In the beginning we fully intended on keeping our pumpkins outside, but after painting them and staging them on the counter we both decided we liked them too much to expose them to the elements. This little slice of fall on my counter makes me so insanely happy. The mason jar vase was bought from dollar general on the cheap. The fake flowers were a product of a great Walmart sale (all of the bundles were under $1). The red placemats were also a Walmart purchase. I bought 2 mats for roughly ~$4. The Bath and Body Works candle was also bought on sale for half off. All in all, the whole set up including the pumpkins, paint supplies, and all the accoutrements cost about $30. That's pretty affordable considering a basic fall wreath will run you nearly $25. Plus, I get to look at and enjoy this set up everyday! Also, lots of these little items are great multi-taskers. For example, the red mat will take us through Christmas and that the vase can be used to hold flowers from every season! Win win.

I say all in all this pumpkin patch experience was a pretty great success. Plus, I got to knock another thing off my fall to-do list!

Did you hit up the pumpkin patch this season? If so, did you carve your pumpkins or paint them? How have you filled your home full of fall bliss? Did you complete any cute fall DIYs? Let me know!

Read also: Pumpkin Patching 2013 // Pumpkin Patching 2014