fall decorating ideas

While I was taking a forced break to recuperate I spent some time getting the house ready for fall.  Now to me that is not have the furnace checked and add insulation, it's getting out all the decoartions that say fall is here.  It's still in the 90's but when school starts my brain says Autumn.
The first project I started was painting gourds.  Last year we grew these beauties at a friends house.  We had them outside until the weather started to get cold.  We brought them in and stored them in the attic on news paper and left them alone until last week.  They are really gross at this point covered with mold, peeling skin and yuck.  That's OK they are suppose to be this way.  Soak them in a sink or bucket for about an hour, then go over them with a scrubby pad which will get off the gunk.  After that scrub comes the hard part, go over every square inch with a paring knife scraping off the remaining skin.  This takes a while but if you skip it your paint will peel right off.  They will still look pretty funky.  I them painted mine with acrylic metallic paints in antique gold, silver and copper.  You could spray paint them or paint them the way they look in nature. Finish with clear spray.  I think they make a great centerpiece marching down my table on a deep purple runner but burlap would look good too.