15+ festive activities for the fall

pear & apple crisp [recipe]

There are lots of signs that fall is coming. Having a bucket full of pears is one of them! We can't eat them fast enough, so I whipped up a pear and apple crisp. It was delightful and tasted of fall. Want to make one? Follow this easy recipe:

Pear + Apple Crisp
9-10 pears, peeled and chopped
1 apple, chopped
2 spoonfuls of sugar and a dash of salt
1 1/2 cups oatmeal
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup flour
dash of cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, melted

Directions: Grease a 9x13 pan. Spread apples and pears on the bottom. Sprinkle sugar and salt over the fruit, then stir to coat. In a separate bowl, combine oatmeal, brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon together. Pour melted butter over this crumb mixture and stir until it is a crumble-like texture. Put crumb mixture on top of fruit. Add more pieces of butter on top if you desire. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes. Cool and eat plain or with ice cream.

FOAD: Fall Dinner

Looking for a cheap way to spruce up your fall table setting? Pick up a bag of fake leaves from the dollar store. Scatter them across the table for a instant burst of festiveness.

Happy Fall!

Happy First Day of Fall! 

Are you as excited as I am?

I can barely wait for the crisp night air, carving pumpkins,

decorating with black and orange, picking out Halloween costumes,

making spudnuts, and all the other festive things Fall brings!

Happy Fall!!

Fall Place Settings

Hope you had a good Thanksgiving! I decided to make some simple place settings for Thanksgiving dinner. I wanted to use only things I had around the house. This is what I came up with:


What I used:

• small clear bags (from Michael's)
• Fabric leaves from a dollar store
• Rafia
• Harvest color kisses
• Brown crinkly paper from a gift

Thanksgiving Decor

This is the first year I've had different decor for Halloween and Thanksgiving. Its been fun changing from bright orange for Halloween to more earthy tones for Thanksgiving. Most of my fall decor came from a Big Lots 90% off clearance sale a few years ago. My motto--decorating can be cheap and still classy.

My mantle.

-Pedestal-thrifted $1
-Vine pumpkin- thrifted $1
-Leaf garland- Big Lots $1
-Pumpkins- fresh from a pumpkin patch- 50 cents each
-Cream turkey- made from foam board and painted
-Branches in vase- branches from a nearby park, acorns in bottom, and vase I had

Our sofa table is sporting a craft I made last year.

My friend and I used old 2x4s, cut, sanded, and painted them. Then we used various papers and mod podged it all on!

Quick Halloween treat

I needed a simple and quick treat to give away to a family with little kids. I loved rice krispy treats as a child (oh wait, I still do). But as I was melting the marshmallows and butter, I had an inspiration on how I could make these just a bit more festive. And that's why I share it on here. Because as you know, this blog is all about those festive things in life.

Right before that creamy marshmallowy mixture was all melted, I added in some orange food coloring.

I used a pumpkin cookie cutter to form the shape and then sprinkled green sprinkles on the stem.

Considering this was a spontaneous experiment, I think they turned out pretty good. And what cute little Halloween pumpkins they make.

Fall Baby Open House

Pumpkin Bars

I made this simple and fast, yet SO delicious fall treat. It's no fail, so you should try it out.

Pumpkin Bars
4 eggs
1 2/3 cup sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 can (15 oz.) solid pack pumpkin
2 cups flour
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda

Icing:
3 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup butter softened
1 tsp vanilla
1 to 2 Tbsp. milk

Beat eggs, sugar, oil, and pumpkin together. Add all the dry ingredients. Mix well and then bake in a 9x13 or 10x15 pan for 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool completely before adding icing. Makes about 2 dozen.

Crockpot Applesauce Recipe

My mother-in-law is such a good cook! I continue to get recipes from her! This is one I got from her when I was dating my husband. It is the perfect fall treat and reminds me of the fun times we spent at their cabin in the Fall.

The best part about this recipe is it will make your house smell like Fall!

Crockpot Applesauce
12 c. chopped apples (you can use non-perfect apples from the tree or any kind)
1/4 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 c. water
1 tsp. lemon juice
touch of nutmeg

Put everything in the crockpot. Cook on low overnight if you want to eat it for breakfast or high for 3 hours.