October goals

The weather is turning from sunny and warm to dark and cool and rainy, really quickly actually. Usually I put up with it through the holidays because they would not be as fun if it was 80 and sunny. Once they pass though, I just kind of shrink into my house and count the days till it turns sunny and warm again.

This fall and winter season I would like to try to embrace it a little more. So to start off fall, I made a list of fun activities for October with the goal of achieving a majority of them. I also want to complete my quilt that I got started this spring.

25 fun fall activities

1. decorate for halloween
2. pumpkin patch
3. jack-0-lanterns
4. jump in leaves
5. caramel apples
6. go to a halloween party
7. make and freeze soup
8. make pumpkin cupcakes
9. have fun with flashlights in the dark
10. pick apples
11. buy gourds
12. make bats
13. watch a halloween special with popcorn
14. make a black wreath
15. make costumes
16. gourd skulls
17. halloween lights
18. ghost candles
19. read halloween books
20. make apple sauce
21. go to a photobooth wearing halloween costumes
22. plant bulbs
23. go on a nature walk
24. make leaf art
25. make soup in a roasted pumpkin

You like how I did that? Made a list including a few things that I already have done so that I feel like I am on my way. Whatever it takes.

Number 17 is Halloween lights. My Halloween lights are just white Christmas lights that I hung over our windows inside with dixie cups attached every few lights. I painted the dixie cups with acrylic paint and a foam brush (make sure they are not waxed) and then made an X on the bottom of the cup with a knife. Then I just poked the light bulb through the X in whatever spots looked good to me. I have also seen them covered in scrapbook paper so that is a fun option too.

I did this for Christmas last year as an inexpensive alternative to string lights that come with those little shades and I loved them all season long. I loved them so much I wanted to keep them up through Valentine's Day. Okay, St. Patrick's Day too, but they went out and then I was kicking myself for not buying extra strands when they were available. This year I will buy some extra strands and hopefully keep them up longer. The light is so nice in the winter.

Tonight I ran to our little farm stand for some "me" time and got a pumpkin for making our soup (the Cinderella type of pumpkin is good for roasting) and I plan on using this recipe from this month's issue of Bon Appetit. I am kicking myself for not shopping there more often. The prices were the same as the grocery store but it supports a local farm and it was nice to hear the rain drops on the tent above my head. Plus they win points for having strand lights overhead and paper lanterns and no angry woman ramming her cart into me as I swiped my card through the reader at the checkout.




the scalloped bunting is just paper cut in circles, glued over a piece of twine. last year i bought a fall pack of paper from joann or michael's and then i just went to town figuring out stuff where i could use it. This spring I bought a giant (3-4") scalloped punch from michael's. makes it so much easier.



this little moth showed up in my house. he is still there. should we take bets on whether he is alive or dead? i'm certain that he was not there when i put the letters up over the weekend. i would have noticed that, i hope.



i made these letters last year. i am kind of a letter freak. i have several Ms throughout our house. joe has J-O-E by his bed. sam doesn't but he's the second kid so everything is happening later for him. he will get letters. E-A-T in the kitchen. so I made B-O-O last year. i bought the letters at joann and then i painted them black with acrylic paint. i used more paper from the pack i bought. i picked out three patterns and rotated the patterns so each had a different front pattern and then the sides coordinated. i used mod podge to glue it all down but you can see the tear on the bottom of the middle O where it tore after sitting stacked on each other for the winter. so i need to figure out a solution for that.


I'm so lucky that my mom passed along some of my most favorite Halloween decorations that I loved as a kid that I can share with my own kids. Halloween is coming and I am so excited.

tara
xo