Fall is here and autumn fairies are near! A hot, dry stretch of summer weather finally broke a few weeks ago and gave way to comfortable temperatures and rainy days, so most of my fairy gardens are greening up and thriving right now even as summer winds down. I’m hoping we have several weeks until the first frost hits, because I just finished decorating my last fairy garden for fall on Friday and would like to enjoy my new autumn gardens for as long as possible. Without further ado, here are this year’s fall designs…
Harvest at Newfields is back – and much bigger than last year’s inaugural event! It has expanded from a four-day weekend to 24 days in October and now features two separate daily events: Harvest Days and the all-new Harvest Nights! My parents and I went to Member Preview Night yesterday so we got a sneak peek at this fabulous fall festival that officially begins today. (You can check out our visit to Harvest’s weekend event last year here on the blog.) Entry to Harvest Nights is along a winding path under cornstalk arches where…
As I write this post on the first day of autumn, signs of fall are appearing despite the warm weather. Leaves are swirling down on my deck, my mums are blooming, and spider webs are cropping up all over my yard. It’s finally time for the fall décor to come out! Last week I finished transforming my summer fairy gardens into fall themed miniature scenes. Overall, the plants in my fairy gardens fared very well this year despite our hot, dry summer and I didn’t have a lot of dead growth to remove…
Halloween is nearly here! This time of year is filled with lots of sweet treats, and today I’m sharing one that makes a cute kitchen centerpiece: a Halloween themed gingerbread house. I love decorating gingerbread cookies and houses, but I’ve only made them at Christmas time until now. In recent years I’ve noticed that gingerbread kits are available for several holidays throughout the year. My local Meijer store had this gingerbread house kit made by Wilton, along with a whole section of Halloween themed candy decorations to add to baked goods and gingerbread houses. I’ve also…
Today I’m sharing some feline flair that’s got me in the Howl-oween spirit. The last several fall seasons I’ve decorated my mantel for autumn or Thanksgiving, but this fall I really wanted to have a Halloween themed mantel. I was going for a retro vibe, but I don’t have any truly vintage Halloween decorations. I was inspired by the vintage Halloween décor I saw in an article featuring this home last year. (Check out photos 3, 8, 11, 12 and 26 especially; I love how she decorated her shelves.) I noticed black cats are…
For years I’ve been searching for the perfect pumpkin patch. A scenic spot, not too crowded, with a large variety of pumpkins for sale at reasonable prices. The pumpkin patches in and around Indianapolis are geared more towards kids’ activities – like bounce houses, slingshots, and tire climbs – than pumpkin picking. They can be crowded on the weekends and many charge for admission, parking, and activities. Usually I end up getting my pumpkins in Indianapolis at a nice farmer’s market which has a large variety of every kind of pumpkin imaginable. But it’s a little pricy…
October is in full swing and it will be Halloween before we know it! I’m running behind on my Halloween decorating, and I’m determined to get it finished by next week before it’s too late. But today I’m sharing one Halloween décor project I finished early back in August. Last fall I made a Halloween indoor fairy garden which was inspired by a pumpkin shaped base my mom gave me. I enjoyed it so much that I’m displaying it again this year, and adding a Halloween indoor gnome garden to…
Hello fall friends! I hope that your autumn is off to a great start, full of pumpkin spice and everything nice. At my house, September means fall makeover time for my fairy gardens. I’ve enjoyed my summer containers since May, but by now they’re in need of some TLC to tame overgrowth and remove dead plants that didn’t survive our crazy summer weather, which alternated between hot dry spells and heavy rain. Many of my summer garden figures have faded from the sun or become buried in overgrowth over the past four months. And this year the…
Happy Halloween! I hope you are enjoying a spooky sweet day that’s filled with terrifyingly tasty treats and creative fun! My favorite way to celebrate any holiday is with good friends, family, and crafts, so when I heard Caravan Classes was having an Artist Halloween Party, I made plans to attend this fun event with my mom. Caravan Classes is an amazing local business that offers art classes, parties, events and custom art projects for both kids and adults. They have a studio by the Noblesville, Indiana courthouse square and also a vintage camper which serves as a…
My mom has been making ghost suckers for Halloween since I was a little girl in the 1970s. She hands them out to trick-or-treaters in little goody bags with other fun candy and trinkets. These spooky-cute lollipops are a quick and frugal craft. You can fill a haunted house with them in no time at all! Use them for: Halloween party favors Candy for trick-or-treaters Halloween treats for kids, classrooms, neighbors Boo bags Supplies: Round lollipops (Tootsie Roll pops work best) Flat (rectangular) box of Kleenex Black rug yarn Black cardstock Craft glue Standard…
Just 20 miles west of downtown Indianapolis, the small town of Danville, Indiana puts on a festive fall display of scarecrows each year from October 1-31. This year is their 10th annual display of creative scarecrows designed by local businesses and civic groups. My mom and I strolled around the square on a lovely warm Friday evening just before sunset. We’d stopped there on our way home from the Parke County Covered Bridge Festival. I’ll be blogging about our trip to the Covered Bridge Festival this week. Thirty-one scarecrows are displayed on all four…
Artificial fairy gardens can be just as fun as fairy gardens made with real plants and flowers. They’re a fun accent for your home all year round. And during the colder months, you’re limited to indoor fairy gardens or artificial gardens anyway (fauxry gardens?), so that’s the perfect time to try one. In past years, I’ve enjoyed making fairy gardens for Christmas and Valentine’s Day using artificial snow. This is my first year bringing my Halloween fairy garden indoors. The last couple of years, I’ve had one outside. As long as they’re…