Fun & Frugal Fall Decorations You Can Make Yourself!

With the start of fall just a mere two days away, my thoughts are beginning to sway to leaves, pumpkins, pine cones, and all things orange, yellow, and green.  Ah…just the thought of walking on crispy leaves makes me want to break out my Ugg boots.  Although, it is still in the 90’s here.

I am going to make it feel like fall around here if it’s the last thing I do, darn it.  I am soooo ready to say goodbye to summer.  Nothing against summer, of course.  But after the 4th of July, I’m pretty much ready for it to cool down. 

This is the second year living in this home.  Last year, life was just nuts.  I didn’t get out any of my fall or Halloween decorations. Dealing with a newborn baby, a wild two-year old, and a kindergartner with homework every night left me with little energy to even think about decorating.  Shoot, I was happy we got a Christmas tree up last year.

Now that things have settled down a bit (yes, it has taken over a year for things to settle down), I plan to get back into the swing of how things used to be.  Way back when, you would walk into my house and immediately smell pumpkin spice.  You would have seen pretty harvest scenes on my end tables and in my dining area.  At Halloween time, you would have noticed my cute scarecrows and mums outside on my front walkway.

I missed doing all of that.  So I’m getting back into gear this year.

As I am always trying to remain frugal, this year I have decided to try to make as many of my decorations as I can.  I still have all of my other decor, but I want to supplement and make my home look even more outstanding.  Most importantly, I want to involve my kids.  Two of the three are plenty old enough now to appreciate making fun little decorations for our home.  And I want to preserve their little creative souls for as long as I can.

So, I’ve been searching around for a while for some things that I can make myself with things I already have in my craft stash.  Here are a few of the things I have in mind:

This initial from The Thrifty Abode is so pretty.  I don’t have the satin leaves, but I do have an idea that, if successful, I will surely share with you once it is complete.

I’ve already started to save my milk jugs for these adorable milk jug ghosts.  I think the boys will get a kick out of these.

I’ve also been saving all my jars and bottles to make these cute pumpkin luminaries by Crafts By Amanda.  I can see these on my new front porch.

I grew up in a very artistic family, so I already know how to make my own scarecrow.  But this post over at Home Made Simple has inspired me to make some for my own home this year.  Hopefully I can snag some potted mums on sale to put near it.

These owls are really spooky, though I would probably have to put them inside since they are made from cardstock and my porch is not covered.  I love the idea though.

These tomato cage ghosts are genius.  I’m totally making these.

How gorgeous is this harvest mantle?  So simple yet so elegant. 

So it looks like I’m going to be busy this fall and Halloween season!  But I can’t wait!  This is by far my favorite time of year.  And my house is going to show it!