Sierra V. Fedorko

A trendy fall means scarves and fall colors, cool weather, pumpkin spice lattes and a pumpkin patch to boot! But here at Green Fables I encourage you to celebrate fall in those simple ways that are right outside your door.

There is no rushing.

It’s letting those summer temps hang on if they want to and noticing how your corner of the world changes.

Stepping right into autumn for whatever it is and however it looks and feels in your “neck of the woods” makes the season burst with opportunities for simple and joyful celebrations.

Not asking it to be mainstream is about the best thing you can do to experience those long-lost festive feelings we so easily enjoyed as children.

When I was uploading “fall haul” pictures to this post, I realized just how much I celebrated the season. All these celebrations were done in small increments over time. It wasn’t mainstream. It wasn’t fireworks. But it was fall. The fall in my neck of the woods, and I noticed it. I did something about it.

So here’s my fall haul for 2024!

#1 – Making a Tiny Bouquet of Mums for My Garden Fairies.

You can see all the fanciful autumn fairy photos here. This lil’ mum bouquet is easily one of the most charming things I’ve done all season!

#2 Lopsided Leaf Art in the Garden

I brought construction paper, markers, and Elmer’s glue to the garden and had the kids collect leaves so we could do some leaf art. None of it is near as cute as all those Pinterst photos, but the point is we did it.

#3 – Nature Walks + a No-Fuss Acorn Craft

On some Sunday afternoon in late August or early September we went on a nature walk as a family. I collected the most charming acorns and set them aside. I finally decided to make them into a lil’ pumpkin family for my children to play with. It’s a quick paint job and I used a Sharpie to draw the faces, but I think it turned out and it was a good use of my time!

#4 – Harvesting Fresh Sunflower Seeds from the Garden

For my last two sunflower seasons I’ve used harvested seeds from my 2022 sunflower garden. Sunflower seeds can last up to 5 years, but it was time to refresh my stash. Plus I’m filling up a mason jar for my sister-in-law so she can get her own sunflower garden blooming in the desert! I can’t wait to see that harvest!

#5 – Sunflower Fairy Wand Craft with Garden “Confetti”

I first saw Nature Confetti wands on Pinterest but as with any good craft, you make it your own! This Sunflower Wand was so fun and easy. It’s made from paper, a sunflower stalk, glue, and confetti from the garden.

Garden Confetti – Mums, oak, grape vine, and rose leaves, geranium, sunflower, and another pink flowery bush bloom I can never recall!

The wand is tied with ribbon for extra bits of magic, but careful when you turn the wand around because it’s all secured with duct tape, heheheee!

You’ve got to try this whatever you have on hand. Find leaves from trees or on the ground, pick a few petals from whatever flowers you have sitting on your porch or even buy yourself a bouquet and after you thoroughly enjoy it make it the wilted blooms into your own version of this Sunflower Wand!

Of course it isn’t only crafts that have been enjoyed this season.

#6 – Simply sitting in the garden soaking up all the warmth and light, noticing all the acorns and leaves blanketing the garden floor, and feeling the weather change has been delightful.

It is rare I don’t have instrumental music playing in Green Fables and recently I looked over to find my daughter dancing to the music. She has lots of flourish and feeling when she dances. I love to see it!

Moments like my daughter dancing or myself just totally swept away in the beauty of nature while the music plays are treasures I don’t hold lightly!

#7 – Creating Weekly Flower Bouquets for the Coffee Table

For much of September I set the coffee table with beautiful bundles of sunflowers, but that season is past so I’ve challenged myself to fill the mason jar on the coffee table with a new flower bouquet every week as long as I can with whatever is blooming in the garden or around in nature.

My zinnias are in their heyday so they make up much of each bouquet, but I also sprinkle in mums and marigolds! I’ve also discovered that dead, brittle mums makes excellent filler flower for the zinnia bouquets! And it looks autumnal. Double win.

So, there’s 7 parts of my “fall haul,” but I also didn’t mention the pumpkin donuts I baked, the homemade pumpkin spice creamer I made for delicious PSL’s, the berry smoothie enjoyed on the most perfect garden afternoon, the Orange Julius we sipped, the sprinkler runs had as summer slowly ran out, or the “flower picnic” my son set up of his own accord for one of our evening dinners.

I’m mere weeks away from delivering our third baby and though this season has whirled by and I confess to have been wishing it away at least a little, I see how truly I’ve celebrated and how much I’ve swayed to autumn’s rythym.

I have put my hands to the beautiful things in the season at hand.

And I wonder to myself sometimes…

Has autumn always been this obvious? How have I missed it for so many years?

It doesn’t look like trendy Target fall aisles or brisk sweater weather and perfect fall colors, it looks like acorns on the garden floor and haphazard leaf art with my children and dull brown leaves dancing from oak trees and colorful zinnia bouquets and warm garden afternoons until suddenly much into October there’s a nip in the air.

It’s far from perfect and it’s perfect.

I’m so glad I took the time to see autumn for how it showed up in my neck of the woods, to celebrate autumn though it wasn’t always done with festive feeling, and to hold autumn as slowly as I could while anticipating the arrival of our baby girl.

There’s still some autumn to go.

My eyes are open.