Fall is a wonderful time of year. It kicks off the holiday season, but with a bit of ease before the madness of Christmas comes and goes. It’s when a lot of areas get reprieve from the heat, leaves start to really put on a show and everyone’s indulging in pumpkin spice everything!

It’s no secret fall is our second favorite holiday (if you know us you know Christmas is #1) and we love being festive, so obviously we compiled a list of some of our fav fall things to help inspire you!

DECORATING THE HOUSE FOR FALL

Let us just say one thing first: we are here for seasonal decorations. We decorate for fall at the beginning of September through October and then quickly flip to Christmas through the New Year. But…while we love to decorate for fall, I prefer a neutral palette with muted tones verse the typical orange pumpkin array.

If you’re like us and looking for neutral fall decor, we’ve rounded up all our favorite finds for you to get creative with around the house.

Crate & Barrel White Pumpkin Fillers

Pottery Barn White Faux Pumpkins & Cozy Pumpkin Pillows & White Stone Pumpkin Mug
Decorative pumpkins from Michael’s, Hobby Lobby and Target
Wall bats from Amazon
Bonus: Make your house smell like pumpkin spice with Aera’s Pumpkin Spice diffuser scent

BAKING TASTY PUMPKIN TREATS

If there’s one word for us that describes fall it’s “pumpkin”. We love to decorate with pumpkins, visit pumpkin patches and eat pumpkin flavored treats like PSLs, pumpkin bread, muffins, waffles, we could go on.

Ever since I was little, it was always a family tradition to bake pumpkin bread at the start of the fall season and then have loaves upon loaves in the freezer to enjoy for months.

Beyond loaves I also like to use this pumpkin muffin mold to make the cutest lil pumpkin shaped muffins.

If you’re interested in getting your bake on and stocking up on some pumpkin bread here’s the recipe I like to use. This may be a super basic pumpkin bread recipe, but it’s been passed down from my great grandmother and it’s super tasty.

Pumpkin Bread Recipe:

3 1/2 cups flour
3 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 cup oil
4 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup water
2 cups pumpkin puree (1 16 oz. can)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Add dry ingredients and then thoroughly mix

Add wet ingredients and then thoroughly mix to get your final batter

Use fun pumpkin molds like we did, general loaf pans or turn them into muffins with or without wrappers. Whatever mold you’re using, only fill them half way because the batter will rise. For small molds, loaves and muffins, start with 20-25 mins. For larger pumpkin bread loaves cook for 1 hour. Check your baked goods every so often and use a tooth pick to make sure the batter is cooked all the way through. For loaves, you’ll start to see cracks form on the top as they’re done cooking.

VISITING A PUMPKIN PATCH & APPLE ORCHARD

It’s not fall in our opinion if you don’t visit a pumpkin patch for some festive photos and real decorations for your front porch and maybe carving. We’ve been making our rounds around the Bay Area and finding all the dog friendly patches. If visiting pumpkin patches is on your fall activities list, check out our dog friendly guide.

Next up on our list is to hunt down dog friendly apple orchards. these photos are from our time living in St. Louis when we would visit Eckert’s every year. They have a huge pumpkin patch and rows of apple trees.

carve a pumpkin

Carving a pumpkin is a classic fall activity. We don’t usually carve pumpkins every year, but when you get a stencil of your bestie, you better believe I ran to the store to get a pumpkin.

If it’s been awhile since you’ve carved a pumpkin, here’s some quick tips we had to remember:

Make sure you look for a nicely shaped pumpkin that has enough real estate to accommodate your design.
Get the pumpkin carving tools. While you may have some good substitutes at home, we promise you they’re not as good. The smaller carving knives are needed for those smaller details and the scraper will help make the inside of your pumpkin very smooth and clean.
Make sure your pumpkin is super clean on the inside before carving. I had to double back and clean the inside more after carving to make the details more pronounced
Take your time! I forgot how tough carving can be so take your time so your design comes out looking like a masterpiece.

CREATING DIY COSTUMES

We definitely prefer fall over spooky szn, but I cannot resist an opportunity for DIY anything. I used to just dress Ruby up, but then once we moved to California it grew into a group activity after attending a dog howloween block party. At this point, we have several costume ideas for you and your dog or the whole family, but here’s some of our favorites.

PATIO SIPPING AT A WINERY

I don’t know what it is, but fall always seems like the best time of year to visit a winery. The weather is perfect for patio sipping your favorite Cab and the warm nodes add to the cozy vibes of your light sweater. I think this is also because schedules start to slow down a bit as we all ramp up for the holiday season, so this activity is really a Sunday Funday well spent with your friends before all the family time starts.

TRANSITIONING TO SWEATER WEATHER

There’s nothing better than busting out the fall sweaters. While it may take a minute for the weather to turn in NorCal, we have our wardrobes ready as soon as 70s start showing up in the forecast. And you better believe our outfits are coordinated! #twinningiswinning

We’ll continue to update this as we enjoy more fall activities, but until then I hope this inspires you to enjoy the season and maybe do something you haven’t in a while or ever!