A Harvest Table
Set a celebratory table with bold splashes of color from the garden or farmers' market; gourds, fruit, and nuts come in golds, yellows, oranges, and a range of browns and greens.

Transform a variety of dried gourds into tableware by hollowing them out and piling them high with pears and walnuts as centerpieces; fill others with candles in glass votives, and still more with salt and pepper.

Napkin rings of small grapevine wreaths (available at crafts stores) tied with velvet ribbon are unexpected and simple to assemble. For a feast with just a few friends or a crowd, this attractive setting inspired by nature will evoke the warmth of the season.

Paper-Leaf How-To
Add these leaves to bowls of gourds, or lay a few along a tablecloth. We used light-green paper, but you can use any color you like.

1. Trace or print the leaf template onto the back of a piece of decorative paper, and cut out as many leaves as you want.

2. To give the leaves more dimension, fold them outward at notches and inward along lobes.

3. Use a length of paper-covered wire for a stem, and use hot glue to affix it to the center back of the leaf. Let dry.

4. Coil the wire stem around the handle of a wooden spoon or a pencil; slip off.

Harvest-Table Gourd Crafts
Work outside; wear goggles and a dust mask. Before placing food in gourds, apply a sealant such as Behlen's Salad Bowl Finish; let dry.

1. For a bowl or saltcellar, mark a horizon on a dried gourd. Pierce it with a serrated hobby knife, insert tip, and saw along line. Remove top and seeds; use a sculpture tool to scrape out any pulp. Sand inside and edges with sandpaper.

2. For pepper shaker, cut hole in gourd for a cork; clean as in step 1. Sand inside and edges with a Dremel drill.

3. Drill holes.