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Fun Ideas for Your Fall Parties and Crafts

I’m partnering with Oriental Trading for this post. Oriental Trading provided the products (which I chose), and the opinions are 100% my own.

 I literally scared  Sunny with the scream I let out when I saw this Ewok dog costume onOriental Trading’s website,  because it is so adorable. (Yes, they have kids’ and adults’ costumes too. Amazing ones!)   In the past, Sunny has been a princess for Halloween, a referee, and I think she was a clown once… But the Ewok wins.



As soon as I put it on Sunny, she curled right up and went to sleep. Cozy and warm!

And here are my kids from about 18 years ago. Yes, 18 years ago, and the reason I now dress a Yorkie up for Halloween, instead of kids! (To be honest, my daughter was the first to dress Sunny up for Halloween the year we got her. The tradition has continued!)

My daughter always loved dressing in costume for Halloween, while my son sort of tolerated it. This Buzz Lightyear costume, though—I think he would have lived in it.

And so FALL IS HERE!  My favorite season and the only season that really has me wanting to host parties.  Oh, I do host our family Christmas Eve.  But the rest of the year I find it hard to get motivated to do such things. My sister has always been the event planner in the family, but event planning has always been a little overwhelming for me. (She: an extrovert.  Me: NOT an extrovert.)

Other than Christmas, fall is also the only time I really do any seasonal decorating.  I love these fun orange lanterns from Oriental Trading,  and they will look wonderful, welcoming our guests and  trick-or-treaters.  (Typically, I have one lone pumpkin on the porch…) These will look great with some LED candles.

Orange Lanterns from Oriental Trading~anartfulmom.com

So, with all of the fall inspiration around, for the last few years I’ve been longing to have a party on Halloween. I’ve planned it in my head many, many times.  Chili (of course!), pumpkin muffins (of course!), movies outside, projected on a “screen” (er, sheet), a fire in the fire pit, and marshmallows (of course!)  And, because I am a photography fanatic (proudly), I’ve envisioned a photo booth.

I set up my very first photo booth last winter for my nephew’s birthday, and I really wish I’d had this great photo booth sign on the prop table.

Photobooth sign~anartfulmom.com



 I love these Peanuts photobooth props and actually had a really hard time choosing, because there were so many to choose from. When they arrived, I couldn’t help smiling. They are even better than I’d hoped.

 My original plan was to scatter these pretty leaves (they look like burlap!)  on the snack table at the party, but I’m keeping some aside for crafts, as they are so pretty. I fell in love with the texture and the delicate shapes.  For this fall greeting, I brush lettered the greeting with my Tombow dual brush markers and arranged the burlap leaves for a border.

Brush Lettering~anartfulmom.com

And, for documenting the events, these pretty journal cards and fall colored “pearls” for the photo pages. I was so happy to see the reasonably priced scrapbooking supplies at Oriental Trading’s site.

Scrapbook supplies from Oriental Trading!anartfulmom.com

I’m reviving my scrapbooking hobby, but in a more manageable way these days, using pocket albums, but decorating with all of the scrapbook pretties. When my (now 26!) year old son was a baby, I had more time for elaborate scrapbooking. But then my second baby came along a few years later, and I needed to find more time efficient ways to scrapbook. I didn’t want to give up my pretty scrapbooking supplies, so I just used them to decorate within the clear pockets. (That idea has now become pretty mainstream!)

I love that the journaling cards are pretty on both the front (lined) side, and also the back, because both sides often show in the pockets.

Do you have any fun fall or Halloween events planned?

Brush Lettering~anartfulmom.com

Linking to:

SITS Saturday Sharefest

Made by You Monday at Skip to My Lou

The Pin Junkie

Dare to Share

Brag About It at VMG206

Wildly Original at I Gotta Create

Thursday Favorite Things at Katherine’s Corner

Wonderful Wednesday at Marilyn’s Treats

Simple and Sweet Fridays at Rooted in Thyme

Inspire Me Monday at Mostly Blogging

Inspire Me Monday at Create with Joy

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18 Comments

  1. Some lovely ideas here and I love your little Yorkie! We don't really do anything for Halloween now and it wasn't really a thing in the UK when my boys were little 30 plus years ago. I used to get involved in it when we lived in Canada and really enjoyed the fancy dress fun and carving pumpkins. It is more of a thing here now – we do get the neighbourhood kids trick or treating. Love the leaves by the way – I just painted some fall leaves with gold acrylic paint and they look really pretty.

    1. Thanks Gilly! We still get a few neighborhood kids trick-or-treating, but not too many. Your gold leaves sound pretty!

  2. It is such fun because my kids are still in the thick of the holiday years (I still am too, though..) so we will do parties and parades.
    I love Oriental Trading. My mom is an art teacher and we'd wait for her catalogs to come all the time and then pore through them.

    1. I always loved the Halloween parade at my kids' school. I always loved Oriental Trading too. I remember the fun paper catalogs.

  3. How fun! I always love making things for the home during the Fall season. …and your dog is adorable! 🙂 #HomeMattersParty

  4. Oriental trading is one of my favorite places to shop! They have so many fun Fall crafts and decor. I love your orange lanterns. #HomeMattersParty

  5. Cute puppy costume. Love your fall greeting sign, Pam. Oriental trading sure do have some great craft supplies. #HomeMattersParty

  6. Love how you dress up your dog now! My kids are grown too. I miss the fun of Halloween when they were young! #homemattersparty

    1. Yes, Sunny loves soft little sweaters, etc, so she loved this costume. My daughter (now 22) decided to dress Sunny up for her first Halloween with us several years ago, and the tradition has continued!

  7. Oh I'm not looking forward to the day my daughter is completely grown.I look back at pictures of the younger years, they're so cute when they'll lil. I also dress up my dog 🙂 And I love those orange latterns! #HomeMattersParty

  8. I can't handle how cute that pup photo is! I always try to dress our cats up but it never works out good!

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