DIY The Cutest Fall Entryway Decor With A Pool Noodle & Tension Rod

If there are two things a DIYer loves, it's fall decor and a good hack to make stunning displays easy to achieve. This project joins both in a budget-friendly pool noodle DIY that'll bring colorful fall vibes to your porch or your home's entryway. With only three materials and plenty of vibrant artificial plants in gorgeous fall colors you can make a garland to install just outside your home's entryway to welcome guests, in indoor arches and door frames, or even in the space between kitchen cabinets, windows, and bookcases.

For this build, you will need a tension rod, like this Design House Adjustable Tension Rod, and some everyday foam pool noodles. This ornament should not be heavy, so you don't need to invest in an expensive heavy duty steel rod. When it comes to covering up the base, give free rein to your imagination. Chain garlands, fake flowers, and leaves work great, but you could also use moss, mini pumpkins, ribbon, fairy lights, or whatever your heart desires for the season. Stick with cinnamon colored decor to bring a cozy fall vibe into your home, or play around with unexpected palettes for a fresh look. To pin everything to the foam, small U pins, likes MTLEE Fork Pins, are particularly handy. They are sharp and can hook around the different pieces and into the foam, locking them together. Alternatively, you may be able to simply pin the plant stems directly into the foam, cutting them short to avoid drooping.

To prepare for this DIY, assess how long your tension rod should be. The distance between two posts on a porch will typically be much wider than the width of a standard door frame, which usually ranges between 30 and 36 inches. Most rods are extendable up to a certain length, but be careful not to buy the wrong size. Similarly, you may need multiple pool noodles for a longer rod. 

Slash one side of the noodle, creating a sort of sleeve that can wrap neatly around the rod. If you need more than one noodle, piercing each of the adjoining ends with a dowel or skewer will keep them from moving around or away from each other. Wrap the noodle (or noodles) around the rod, and simply pin your fall ornaments to the foam, creating a harmonious whole. It's best to completely cover the noodle to avoid any bright non-autumn colors peeking in and ruining your work. However, noodles in black, dark green, or complementing warm colors may even look good partly exposed.

When decorating, you might find it easier to install the rod first. That way you'll only need to move it up once the garland is ready, instead of transporting it from one place to another, which could disturb your creation. To keep the tension rod from falling down, you can increase the friction between the pole and the wall by gluing a piece of anti-slip rubber material to the former, or by scuffing both surfaces with sandpaper to make them less smooth. When you're done, pop off your autumn ornaments, and set the rod aside to use for winter, spring, and summer decorations.