Thursday, October 11, 2012

Falling Happily into FALL!

Good-bye, sweet flowers!
Through bright Summer hours
You have filled our hearts with cheer.
We shall miss you so,
And yet you must go,
For this is the Fall of the year.
From "A Fall Song" by Ellen Robena Field


From new jackets to leaf piles, from fresh crunchy apples to Halloween candy, you know that Fall is here.  And there are a handful of things that I simply MUST do each Fall!  Let me just get out my checklist and red checking pen...

1)  Pick Apples...  Check!



2)  Visit the Pumpkin Tower in my town...  Check!



3)  Drive through the neighborhoods to admire Fall leaves...  Check!


4)  Pick Pumpkins...  Check!




5) Carve pumpkins (and use some for Fall decorations too)... Check!


6) Make or buy the children's Halloween costumes (and my own too!)...  Check!
Bonus points if you know EXACTLY who this character is!

7)  Host a Fall Party for friends...  Check!
Because of all the warm, delicious foods and exciting decorating ideas, Fall is a great time to have a party!  If you've ever peeked at my party blog (http://craftyparty.webs.com/you know that I've had a lot of fun planning & hosting my children's birthday parties over the past five years.  But I haven't hosted a dinner party for adults since having my children...  So I'd say it's past time for that.

Woo hoo, where to begin!  With decorations made of pumpkins and pinecones (who are "sweeping in they wittle bed", as my 2 yr old daughter likes to say)...


With the cute & easy Fall place settings, complete with "napkin rings" made of fall mini-cookie cutters...


With the warm, delicious Fall foods...
Yes, that is custard baked into a pie pumpkin!  Got this recipe from Pinterest, and it was FANTASTIC!!

Or perhaps with the personalized Doodlekins goodie bags for each of my guests...

Those were what my book club guests noticed first at my dinner party, as these bags are so colorful.  "Oh, aren't these cute.  How nice that we each have one on our plates.  What's in them?"  Then they picked them up and started exclaiming, "Ohmygosh, RITA!  I am ON here!  How did you get ALL our heads on here!  I love my hair!  I have a headband!  I love my glasses!  So-and-so looks JUST like herself!  How did you make this?  You are so creative!!"

Well, I will take credit for the other ideas, but this one here is all Doodlekins!  You can find personalized cello bag kits at http://www.doodlekins.com/cartoon-family-cello-bag-kits/.  They come with personalized labels, choices of different label backgrounds and fonts, various colors of ribbons, and large or small cello bags (this is the small size).  

I am definitely going to order these cello bag kits again for my Mom's Group Cookie Exchange this December, as well as for my son's next classroom party!  They were such a hit, and my guests could even take them as "favors" to show off!  Made it a dinner party to remember...

Yes, I do love Fall.  The tastes, the smells, the sights, and sounds all delight me and my family.  It's always a season to remember!  (And a prelude to another exciting season that's peeking around the corner too!)


So here is my Fall Question of the Day for you...
(Those who have read my blog posts before knew this was coming, didn't you?!)



What is YOUR favorite Fall activity or recipe?  There are so many to choose from, but which is YOUR favorite?  I will reveal my fave at the end of the season, but first I want to hear from you!


Until then, I hope you are enjoying a colorful and wonderful Fall.  If nothing else, be sure to take a walk through the leaves while sipping on a pumpkin spice latte or crunching on a honeycrisp apple!  Ah, what's not to love about Fall?


Says the lady who doesn't have any big leafy trees in her yard...