We tend to think of fall colors in the family of rusts and browns, pumpkins and mustards. But you can also reach across the color wheel and pull in some cooler hues. Shades of indigo and slate are a perfect match for warm harvest tones, complementing them beautifully without taking away their autumn feeling.
So here is some fall color palette inspiration – with a few projects and recipes along the way.
Here are 11 pumpkin-pie-inspired ideas you can bake or make!
Eat+Drink
Pumpkin Pie – First, a classic. You can make pumpkin puree for pies and other recipes from a sugar pumpkin or even a regular carving pumpkin. (Really! I did it!)
Holiday Spice Mix – Blend these ingredients for a versatile, cinnamony spice you can use as pumpkin pie spice or sprinkle into hot chocolate.
Spiced Pumpkin Pie Martini – A pumpkin pie garnish on your cocktail?! Why not? After all, it is the holidays.
Downeast Maine Pumpkin Bread – You can use canned pumpkin or your own pumpkin puree for this addictively good quick bread.
Pumpkin Pie Smoothie – This is a great breakfast on-the-go – especially during the holiday season when you have a lot of pumpkin around and not a lot of time. I added pecans and an extra cup of plain Greek yogurt to Jamie’s recipe.
Pie Slice Cookies – I haven’t made these, but they were so adorable that I had to include them! (If you’re looking for cookie decorating ideas and tips, there are TONS on the Sweet Sugarbelle blog!)
Fall Succulent Planter – Rachel of Maison de Pax planted succulents directly into ceramic pumpkins. Another option would be to place potted succulents inside a real (or ceramic or foam) pumpkin and take them out when you take down the autumn decor.
Pumpkin Pie Friendship Necklaces – StudioDIY shared a tutorial for this making polymer clay pumpkin pie necklaces as part of a Friendsgiving post!
Mini Pumpkin Candles – A simple project from Faith Durant at The Kichn that turns a pumpkin into a candle.
Botanical Pumpkins – Fall leaves and Modge Podge are a striking way to decorate pumpkins!
Decorating sugar skulls at CraftHack this time last year prompted me to learn more about Día de los Muertos and the handmade elements of this tradition.
Community altar in Tucson.
“Day of the Dead, or Día de los muertos, is a time for commemorating the dead, celebrating with family— both living and dead—and appreciating the cycle of life and death.”
When you lose someone you love, they don’t stop being part of your life. They remain in your heart and your memories. There’s something beautiful about recognizing and honoring this presence.
A Day of the Dead Altar via Elba Valverde.
La Ofrenda / Altar
One way to do this is by making a small altar (ofrenda) for the October 31 – November 2 celebration.
“Making a Day of the Dead Altar is about memories and traditions and the most important part is that you enjoy the process … add [your] own special touches … add the four elements, water, wind, earth and fire in some way, the picture of your beloved one, food, flowers and candles.”
Colorfully decorated sugar skulls are probably the most iconic element in Day of the Dead celebrations. You can purchase blank sugar skulls that are ready for you to personalize. Or you can use a mold to make your own from sugar, white chocolate, or (if you’re not going to eat them) plaster of Paris!
Plaster of Paris Sugar Skulls via Kathy Cano-Murillo.
When we did them at CraftHack, our friend Shanlyn led the demonstration. She brought in plain white sugar skulls she had made at home and showed us how to decorate them with frosting, sprinkles, and sanding sugar.
Shanlyn’s sugar skull demo at CraftHack.
I covered mine in slightly sparkly black sugar to give it a different look. Then I added flower sprinkles on top to give it a Frida Kahlo-esque headpiece. It didn’t come out perfectly, but it I had fun trying it out!
Sugar Skulls in Other Craft Projects
The sugar skull motif pops up all over the place – especially this time of year! A few crafty examples…
Via Berene Campbell.
Embroidery – Berene Campbell (Happy Sew Lucky) created this cute pattern that features a sugar skull with scissors behind it, like a crafters’ pirate flag!
Via Elba Valverde.
Cupcake toppers – This design is one of the free printables Elba Valverde offers on her site, Live Colorful!
Day of the Dead Planters – Regina Lord painted terra cotta pots to look like sugar skulls and then planted succulents in them. The tutorial is at Creative Kismet.
2. Paper (napkin) flowers – Using paper napkins in place of tissue paper will help the flowers hold their shape. It would be fun to experiment with different color combinations and textures! (I added some cute ones to this Party collection.)
Via Nikki Wills.
3. Mini Tissue Paper Flowers – A similar process on a much smaller scale! For these, you actually use a scalloped circle paper punch to create the “petal” shapes in the layers of tissue paper.
Via Vianney Rodriguez.
4. Marigold Margarita – Vianney Rodriguez made her own marigold-infused tequila with organic dried petals. Then she added citrus juice, cointreau, and salt around the rim.
What traditions are meaningful to you as you remember your loved ones?
Updated November 2023. Originally posted October 2017.
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Does hearing about Route 66 put Nat King Cole’s “Get Your Kicks” in your head too?
I don’t know the whole song, but I always chime in when he gets to “Flagstaff, Arizona.”
The “Mother Road” turns 90 this year, and Flagstaff is celebrating the milestone Friday (11/11). There will be food, music, games, classic cars, and bowling from 12-5pm between the Historic Museum Club and Starlite Lanes Bowling Alley. Bring cash – proceeds benefit the Military Order of the Purple Heart and Bowling for Vets.
If you’re in town through Saturday, you can also go to the opening reception for the It’s Elemental exhibition at the Coconino Center for the Arts 11/12, 6-8pm. You can find more ideas of what to see in the Flagstaff Visitor Center’s itinerary guide (PDF).
According to the leaf-o-meter, there is still some fall color, and the forecast looks good. It should be a great weekend to get your kicks in Northern Arizona!
There are lots of reasons to wear a costume coming up: this weekend is Keen Halloween (more on that in the last section), then there’s Phoenix Comicon Fan Fest, followed closely by actual Halloween. Plus, all the various October costume parties and fall festivals and whatnot.
If there’s such thing as a costume-wearing season, this would be it. And, if you were thinking of making your own costume, then costuming panelists from Phoenix Comicon 2016 have some tips to help you out.
1. Duct tape
You can make an entire costume from duct tape. In fact, one speaker, Huntington Keith, won a scholarship contest by making Firefly cosplay/prom outfits for himself and his date. It took about 40 hours of work for him to construct her shindig-worthy dress with its layers and layers of ruffles. He also made himself a tux.
He shared lessons he learned through trial and error that could help with your next duct tape creation.
Duct tape dos:
Use a flat surface to construct your costume.
Stretch it as taut as possible.
Use scissors or an X-Acto knife to cut.
Covering a t-shirt or other piece of fabric will help the costume breathe better.
Create texture by putting things such as twine between the layers of tape.
Buy in bulk. 30 yards will typically cost $5-6, but you may be able to find better prices online.
Use the color/s you want or find a type of paint that adheres to polyurethane (most don’t).
Duct tape don’ts:
Because the adhesive starts to melt at about 175 degrees, you can’t mold it like thermoplastics. A residue will form and the top starts to shrivel off.
It will break a regular sewing machine.
Permanent marker doesn’t stay.
Paint usually flakes off.
Making a closure for your costume:
The ideal closure is actually a piece of duct tape.
You can handstitch a zipper on, but it would need to be lateral because stress is a problem.
Hook-and-loop tape may not work when it gets hot.
2. Knitting and Crochet
Shirley Will (a.k.a. @BooMeringue) had a funny and informative panel about knitting and crochet for cosplay. I don’t actually know how to do either of those things, and I was still entertained.
She brought up the fact that knitting and crocheting can look intricate – but there are only so many kinds of stitches.
Since she felt the stripe was too large in most patterns for Jayne’s hat, she created her own. She started by measuring a screenshot from Firefly of Adam Baldwin as Jayne. After estimating the width of the stripe was about the length of his nose, she texted several male friends to ask for their nose measurements(!) and based her pattern on the average. The result is a much more proportionate pattern for a hat that, for legal reasons, she calls the Not-Jayne hat.
More ideas:
Crocheted cogs for steampunk.
Make a wide brim on a beanie and fold it up to make a tri-corner or pirate hat.
Hood with Ewok ears.
Tips:
There are tons of craft tutorials online. If the first one doesn’t work for you, keep looking!
Make gauge swatches. She says, “People hate making gauge swatches, but it’ll save your life! You can use any yarn with any pattern if the gauge is right.”
Have a backup “comfy” cosplay, in case you need a break from your costume or something doesn’t work.
I ducked in to the tail end of a No-Sew Cosplay panel hosted by artist and cosplayer KatDensetsu.
I was just in time for a discussion of cross-play and binding techniques for women who want to make themselves appear less busty when portraying male characters. (Think Éponine disguising herself in Les Misérables.)
As far as making costumes without sewing, certain materials don’t require sewing and can just be cut to size. There’s also a lot you can do using fabric glue, thrift store finds, paint, and/or iron-on transfers.
Phoenix Comicon Fan Fest is October 22-23 (earlier than in past years) and will feature cosplay meetups and panels on topics like costuming mashups.
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