Celebrating Fall

Hello THNC families,

It’s October, the month of fall leaves, fruitful harvest, spicy warm beverages, and ghoulish fun… Autumn is in full swing! There’s much to celebrate this month and we’re excited to share a few Fall craft projects to get you and your family into the festive spirit of the season.

Make a Fall Leaf Garland

A quintessential part of Fall season are the blankets of colorful burgundy, orange, and yellow leaves. But even if you don’t live where deciduous trees drop their leaves, you can still create an Autumn vibe in your home with this easy and fun Fall project.

To make a Fall Leaf Garland, you’ll need construction paper and crayons in fall colors and some leaves. With the help of little ones, collect leaves in varying shapes. It’s ok if they’re green. You’ll be using these leaves to make rubbings onto construction paper. First, press the leaves between pages of a heavy book so that they are flat. Then place the leaves under the construction paper and firmly rub the crayons (using the long side) over the page to bring out the edges and veins in of the leaves. Cut out leaf shapes and staple each leaf a few inches apart along a piece of jute garden twine. Hang the garland on your door or hearth bring the energy and color of Autumn into your home!

For instructions with photos, check out our Fall Leaf Banner post.

Make Paper Lanterns

Lanterns not only brighten your space, they also make your home feel more fun and festive. In Asian cultures, lanterns are a big part of celebrations like the Midautumn Festival and Lunar New Year. Different color lanterns have different meanings. Red means wealth while yellow means good luck and green represents health. Hanging colorful lanterns around the house welcomes these blessings.

To make your own paper lanterns, you just need some sturdy paper (like kraft paper), scissors, and glue. We also highly recommend reusing your kids’ watercolor paintings, which will give the lantern a unique look while letting the light through. Each lantern is made of two pieces of rectangular paper that are cut and glued into a cylinder, so if you happen to have lots of paper on hand, you can easily make several lanterns in a short time.

For a complete video tutorial, check out our Instagram! This blog post also has detailed instructions, though you don’t have to be quite as precise with measuring and cutting.

Preserve the Harvest

Fall is traditionally a time of harvest as well as preserving the harvest to make food last longer throughout the leaner winter months. While we are fortunate to have access to food year-round nowadays, preserving food is still a great way to celebrate the harvest and to have sweet and chewy Fall-time snacks like dried apples, pears, and persimmons.

What’s more, when a fruit is in season, you can easily find a lot for a good deal from your local farmer’s market. Apple is a fall classic that dries well, but pears and Asian pears are also very yummy.

To dry fruit, slice them no more than ¼ inch thin. A mandolin is handy for this. Some people prefer to peel the fruit first, but a lot of good nutrition is in the peel so we don’t mind keeping them on. Spread the slices in one layer onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake on low heat (200 F) in the oven for 3-6 hours (time varies depending on the fruit). After 2 hours, flip the slices and check on them every half hour. They are done when they are brittle to the touch. Allow to cool completely before storing in airtight containers like jars or ziploc bags.

Note: Citrus is in season in California starting in November and they also make excellent dried fruit, especially for baking.

Happy Fall!