The fall months are quickly approaching, and influencers are starting to promote their new decorative/life style items for the cozy and nostalgic time of year. Every season brings new styles of decoration, and every store brings these new seasonal styles several months before the items are actually in season. While it always feels enticing to find a new seasonal aesthetic, one should take into consideration if spending money on these limited-timed items is the best option for their wallet and for the environment.
For example, though buying new disco ball-themed, pastel-colored and decorative pumpkins may be festive at the moment, such items are likely to become worn out and tired looking by the time winter rolls around. Decorations do not have to be permanent or costly, and it is not a requirement to constantly welcome new items into your living space. Sometimes, using materials you already have lying around can make for a great seasonally aesthetic decoration. Keeping this in mind, here are some DIY craft ideas to make this autumn and Halloween season:
1. Leaf prints
Making a collage or using a single leaf to make some wall art is a simple craft to spruce up any space. The only materials needed for these prints are a variation of fallen leaves, paper and some warm-toned crayons. By placing a leaf under a sheet of paper and rubbing the crayon on the area atop of the leaf, the intricate design will appear on the paper.
Personally, I have fond memories of creating leaf print art as a child, and think it is a cute idea to add a subtle piece of the season to any wall collage.
2. Seasonal garlands
One of my favorite decorative items is garland. Throughout the seasons, this is an item you can easily change up, and there are different variations to make for the different seasonal aspects.
Again you can use items found in nature, such as pinecones, acorns and even fallen leaves. Each one can work together to create the perfect environmentally sustainable decoration. Because nature will run its course through these items, this style of garland might best serve as a decoration for a fall get-together, like a movie marathon. Besides the items collected from the trees, yarn or twine can be used to string any of these items together and hot glue works great for anything that needs to be stuck on.
3. Decorative Pumpkins
This craft idea is for the more skilled crafters, but can be achieved by anyone with the willingness to learn how to do some stitching or crocheting. This idea was inspired by helping my grandma make such decorations a few years ago, and can have a slightly different form depending on the type of textile art preferred by the creator. Materials include yarn or fabric for the main body of the pumpkinā€”scrap materials are always encouraged, but not necessaryā€”as well as plastic grocery store bags or newspaper to use as the filling and fallen tree branches to use for the stem of the pumpkin.
For a crocheted pumpkin, a rectangular swatch can be made to a desired size, then stitched and cinched together to create the three-dimensional pumpkin shape. Once this part is complete, the pumpkin form can be stuffed with old newspaper or plastic grocery store bags as an option for a repurposed material. The stick can then be placed in the middle of the pumpkin and the yarn that was used to pull the pumpkin together can then be fully closed. If there are any worries about the stem holding its place in the pumpkin, some hot glue may be used around the top to further seal the pumpkin.
If stitch work is more your style, then a circle-shaped piece of material can work to pull together as a pumpkin form. After forming the main body, the same steps can be followed to stuff and assemble the pumpkin with it’s stem.
4. Personalized tote bags
Another fun, simple, idea that requires some skill is to create a tote bag design that is totally your own. If you wanted to dress up an old tote bag with a previously boring design or no design at all, using scraps of fabric to bring new life into your tote bag creates the perfect fall accessory. Cut fabric scraps into simple shapes such as pumpkins, bats and witches hats, or create a collage of seasonal items and stitch them onto the tote bag. For an alternative idea, fabric glue may also be used to adhere the design to your tote.
5. halloween costumes
While this idea is more obvious and done by many Halloween fans, creating your own costume is a perfect way to personalize your style. To create a costume that is more environmentally friendly, thrifting pieces of your outfit or creating them from scratch are good alternatives to buying from your local costume store promoting unoriginal, over-produced costumes.
My advice is to not shy away from your personality! One of my favorite trick-or-treating costumes was the uniquely regal “zebra queen” ensemble that my mom helped me create. Most of my outfit consisted of items I already owned, like a black shirt, leggings, boots and of course my favorite zebra stuffed animal. My mom made me a tulle skirtā€”black and hot pink strips of fabric tied around a piece of elastic. It was definitely an idea I had never seen before.
All in all, I hope this inspires you to think outside of the box this Halloween and create a unique costume to show off wherever the holiday’s festivities may take you.
While these are just some ideas of what fall crafts can be, there are many more items that can be hand made if you believe in your creative self. Happy crafting!