Ultimate Procrastinator’s Guide to Fall

Fall snuck up behind and spooked me this year. Early October was sunny and 80 degrees. We were wearing shorts and tank tops and I just couldn’t imagine doing anything pumpkin related. At All.

And then the Friday before Halloween hit. Less than one week and I realized I had done NOTHING for the girls that was even remotely related to the season. I knew once November 1 hit, everything would be Christmas and I couldn’t stomach the idea of just completely skipping a season altogether. (Sure enough, as I write this on November 4, the wreaths are on display at our local shopping center. Agree with it or not, fall is “done.”)

So today? I’m sharing my Ultimate Procrastinator’s Guide to being a Spur-of-the-Moment Rockstar Mom. Yes, you too can wait until nearly the very last minute and then sneak in a whole entire season’s worth of fun and awesome in the span of just a few {very intense} days.

After last week, I’m happy to wave goodbye to Fall and welcome the holiday season. We eked every ounce of pumpkin out of it we needed and we’re ready to move on!

Mom’s Last Minute Guide to Halloween:

Step 1. Name your time frame and pick your battles: Whether you have time for a whole week or just a few days, dub it a goofy name and you immediately up the “fun” factor. I declared ours to be “Spooky Week.” I brainstormed one activity or event for each day and made a checklist for our chalkboard. To pad it out a little bit, I added checkboxes for things I knew we’d be eating along the way: pumpkin bread for breakfast, apple cider at the orchard, caramel dip for the apples, etc.

Step 2. Find a Pumpkin Patch: We headed to the local Hall Family Farm for an event with Little Pea’s school. We did a hay ride, picked out our pumpkins from the patch, and joined her class for pizza. If you don’t have a real patch to go to near you, make a big deal out of a trip to the local home hardware supply store or roadside stand. Buy their popcorn or hotdogs and call it an event!

Step 3. Go apple picking: We came “this” close to missing apple season altogether. By this time last year, the trees had long since been picked over. I was saved by a later than normal season and we hit one of the last big weekends at Sky Top Orchard in Flat Rock, NC. We ate apple cider donuts, drank fresh apple cider, picked our apples, and the girls played on the playground before we headed home.

If you can’t go to an actual orchard, head to a local roadside stand and pick up a bag of granny smiths and make one of these 5 awesome recipes.

Step 4. Have a spooky candlelight bathtime reading session: Fill the tub with oodles of bubbles, turn the lights off and light up as many candles as you can find. Read a bunch of Halloween or Fall books. Need inspiration? Check out this list of over 30 titles to get you started. Out of everything we did during “Spooky Week,” I think this was my girls’ favorite activity. And it isn’t any harder than lighting candles. When you’re last-minute momming it, it is all about the presentation!

Total prep time: 5 minutes to find and light some candles and grab a couple books

Step 5. Have lots of photo sessions: Make everything a bigger deal than normal during your celebratory time frame. Little Pea had an “On the Farm” day at preschool to celebrate fall. She was so used to my ever-present camera that she actually asked: “Take my picture mommy??” She was so proud to pose for the photo below.

Total prep time: Zero. Just grab that camera and shoot!

Step 6. Have a “Creepy Crafts” Night: This can be as easy as setting out fall-themed coloring pages and crayons like I did. If you want to put in extra effort and do a full craft, go for it. But it is all in the presentation. My girls came home from school to find the pages waiting for them, all the art supplies they wanted in cups waiting to go. They could barely contain their excitement. . . over coloring! Something they do every day. But it was made extra special because I put out the water color paints and brushes and had it all prepared for them to just sit down.

Total prep time: 5 minutes to set out the supplies

Step 7. Have a costume photo session: Kids have such a hard time waiting to wear their costumes. My girls asked daily if it was time to try them on again. Since Trick or Treat time comes and goes so quickly, I did a last-minute costume session in our living room one night. Because they weren’t overly crazy about heading out the door to get candy, they were more patient with me taking pictures. Earlier in the day I had printed out this awesome spooky backdrop from Caravan Shop and had it printed at Staples for $6. I taped it to our wall and got these pictures below.

Total prep time: Depends on how close the nearest Staples is. I was lucky enough to be driving right past during errands I already had planned that day. 5 minutes to tape the sign to a wall.

Step 8. Carve your pumpkins: Easy enough to do, right? We made our pumpkin carving night a little more special by listening to the “Family Halloween” channel on Pandora. Awesome hits like “Monster Mash”, “Ghostbusters”, “This is Halloween” and so many more. This turned into an impromptu dance party in the living room.

Total prep time: How long does it take to click on that Pandora link??

Step 9. Have a Fall Feast: This is also known as “dinner.” You’re going to feed them anyways, right?? Give it a fancy name, serve everything up on festive plates and napkins, indulge in apple cider vs. milk & water. Our pre-trick or treating meal involved Mummy Dogs and breadsticks made from the leftover prepared dough. I brushed them with olive oil, sprinkled with garlic salt, and slapped them on a cookie sheet. They came out all misshapen and odd so I dubbed them “Bones.” The girls thought it was hysterical.

“Where are the fruit and veggies?” you ask? I picked my battles that night. Nobody’s perfect.

Total prep time: 10 minutes to make the hot dogs, I prepped them in the afternoon and just popped them in the oven as we walked in the door from school pick-up. They baked while we scrambled to get all the costume pieces organized and ready for wearing immediately after dinner.

Bonus Step 10. Invite the neighbors for an impromptu Trick or Treat photo session: I already had our sign (see step 7 above) so I just moved it outside to the garage and put a note out on Facebook tagging all my neighbors to come to our driveway for pictures.

Next year, I’m printing out several copies of different designs and putting them at different heights so that the bigger kids don’t have to scrunch and the little ones can get more than their head in the shot. I’ll also give more advanced warning so people can time their evenings better. It was the perfect kick-off to a group trick or treating event.

Total prep time: 5 minutes, most of which were spent hunting down the tape and scissors!

This photo came from my Instagram feed. If you want to be inspired by future last-minute endeavors, be sure to follow along here.

How about you? Any other great last-minute tricks you employed to make your fall special? Leave me a note in the comments, I’d love to add it to my list next year!

P.S. Don’t miss checking out the awesome Autumn Workshops by Nurture Store! They are perfect inspiration for your own fall celebrations:

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