Welcoming Fall: 10 Simple Touches to Cozy Up Your Home

There’s just something about that first hint of crisp air, isn’t there? When the mornings turn cool enough for a sweater and the evenings call for a steaming mug of cider, we know fall has officially arrived. For The Harris Sisters, fall is more than a season, it’s a chance to slow down, cozy up, and bring a little extra warmth into our homes.

The good news? You don’t have to completely redecorate (or spend a fortune) to make your home feel like fall. A few thoughtful touches can transform your space into a cozy retreat that feels equal parts nostalgic and welcoming. Here are 10 simple ways to bring autumn charm into your home, with a few photo and craft ideas to inspire you along the way.

1. Bring Out the Warm Textiles

Fall decorating is as much about feel as it is about looks. As the weather cools down, trade out lightweight summer throws for chunky knit or crochet blankets and quilts. Toss plaid pillows on the sofa, drape a soft throw across the porch swing, or even layer rugs for extra warmth. 

Super Thick Stash-Busting Afghan Free Crochet Pattern

2. Layer in Earthy Colors

Rust orange, golden yellow, sage green, and deep burgundy red are the colors that instantly signal the season. You don’t have to repaint a thing; just tuck these hues into your décor with table runners, pillows, candles, or other accents. If you have collections in these colors, like these vintage plaid Thermoses, now is the time for them to shine!

3. Set the Mood with Candlelight

Nothing says cozy like the flicker of candlelight. Place taper candles in vintage brass holders on your mantle, or cluster votives on your coffee table. Choose fall scents like apple cider, pumpkin spice, or vanilla to layer in the warmth. 

For you coffee and tea lovers out there, if you have an abundance of fall-themed coffee mugs or tea cups, fill them with coffee beans and use them to hold votive candles for your seasonal candle display.

4. Add Natural Elements

Bring a little of the outdoors inside. Pinecones, acorns, and branches cost nothing but look timeless when gathered in a basket or displayed in a vintage glass jar. You can even make a simple fall wreath by hot gluing pinecones, acorns, or branches onto a cardboard base.

5. Create a Fall Entryway

Your entry sets the tone for the whole home. Hang a seasonal wreath and add a few pumpkins or mums by the door. If you live near a corn field, don't forget ask if you can grab some dried corn stalks for your porch decor. You can add metal and stone outdoor fall decorations to your collection and bring those out year after year. Even the smallest entry can feel inviting with just a few autumn touches.

Fall Porch Photo Inspiration Ideas

6. Use Pumpkins as a Decorating Staple

Of course pumpkins are a fall favorite, but think beyond carving! Uncarved pumpkins can take you from September through November in terms of decor because they represent fall, Halloween, and Thanksgiving. Mix real pumpkins with faux for longevity. To get the most life out of your fresh pumpkins, remember our tips for Caring for and Making Your Decorative Pumpkins Last Longer.

Pro Tip from my Mother-In-Law who hosts Thanksgiving, if you have faux pumpkins that have carved faces on one side and are plain on the other, turn them around so that the plain sides are showing after Halloween to get a few more weeks of decor out of them.

7. Cozy Up the Kitchen

Fall is made for kitchens that smell like cinnamon and spice and sharing heirloom recipes with family. Use our recipe to keep a simmer pot of fruits, cloves, and cinnamon sticks in the crockpot. Display Grandma’s handwritten recipes or a stack of vintage aprons as functional décor that tells a story.

8. Add Vintage Touches

Old-fashioned charm never goes out of style. Layer Grandma's quilt over the back of a chair, fill antique mason jars with sunflowers, or showcase your milk glass collection along with mini pumpkins. These little details remind us of the “good old days” while still feeling timeless.

9. Set the Table for the Season

Even cozy dinners can feel special with a little autumn charm. If you're hosting a dinner during the fall season, set your table with mismatched vintage dishes and napkins in warm fall colors. Place a few mini pumpkins or candles down the center of the table to decorate. You don’t need a big gathering (or even matching dishes!) to set a seasonal table for everyone to enjoy.

10. Create Cozy Corners

Sometimes the smallest spaces bring the most comfort. Create a special self-serve hot cocoa or coffee station in the kitchen for family and guests. Add fall touches like your favorite fall mugs and vintage fall serving pieces to make this simple, everyday task one that's ready for the season.

Fall is more than just a season, it’s a feeling. A little warmth here, a nostalgic touch there, and suddenly your home becomes the gathering place everyone loves. We hope we've shown you that these simple touches don’t take much effort, but they go a long way in creating comfort, joy, and connection.

So grab that pumpkin spice latte, light a candle, and welcome the season with open arms.

Interested in more fall ideas? Check out these popular posts:

• 100 Things to Do This Fall
• Crockpot Baked Apples
• Super Moist Pumpkin Bread
• Crockpot Spiced Apple Cider
• The Best Products for Dry, Chapped Lips

Thrifted Halloween Painting Trend: Upcycling an Old Painting into Halloween Art

With Halloween right around the corner, I thought I would share a recent project that I've been working on.  The thrifted Halloween painting trend hit the scene hard last year.  The idea is to head to your local thrift store and find an old painting that you can upcycle into Halloween art.  I saw a lot of people doing this last year by adding subtle ghosts to landscape paintings and they all turned out so well.  It has taken me a year to get around to it, but I'm glad I finally jumped on board.  It was a fun project to complete. And while my results are definitely less subtle than a few ghosts scattered into a landscape, they are also most definitely Halloween-esque.  Let me show you. 

So I headed to my local Goodwill over the summer and snagged two canvases, both were by the same artist and they were both folk art. I saw the smaller canvas first and immediately knew exactly how I could turn it into Halloween art.  Then I spied a similar larger canvas, and I became convinced that it was meant to be.  I grabbed both pieces and headed to the checkout.  Honestly, both pieces of art have sat in storage for months, but I recently remembered them and pulled them out.  After a little debating, I decided to start on the larger piece first.  

This is what the canvas looked like when I began.  Nothing in particular about this canvas screamed Halloween.  On the contrary, it is a very traditional folk art, with lots of barns and houses, little Amish people, and horses pulling wagons.  But in the back of my mind, I knew what it could become. 

And here are some of the details from the original art. 

Notice the bright orange sun and yellow sky.  I knew that would have to be the first thing I changed. 

I also immediately knew that I would have to adjust all the bright white picket fencing.  

Notice too all those quilt squares painted on the buildings and barns.  I knew I would have to come up with a plan to change those as well. 

But it was all the little people scattered around this painting that excited me.  I adored this little lady hanging out her quilts, and the mom and daughter to her right.   I had a pretty immediate idea of how I would use all these people in a Halloween painting.  And I'll bet you are thinking the same thing. 

But my first order of business was to get the basic color scheme corrected.  I chose a dark blue for the sky and made that sun into a much bigger yellow moon. Then I adjusted all of the trees and bushes to reds, oranges, and yellows to replace all the bright green that we started with.  I also made all of the previously white picket fencing black.  

With those basic changes completed, I was finally able to move on to the fun part- converting all those little people into my Halloween cast of characters.  

The very first character I started on was the little fellow on the bicycle in the center of the painting.  I took one look at him and decided he HAD to become the Wicked Witch from the Wizard of Oz.   And with a few easy updates, he did.  

Here's the before and after. 

Since the bicycle already had a basket, it only made sense to add little Toto in there as well.  But this was only just the start.  

Next up was the little character on a tricycle.  I thought to myself, what character would be riding a tricycle?  And I knew it had to be a clown.  Here's that transformation. 

Then the inspiration struck for my favorite little lady hanging out the laundry on the line.  I thought I could make her into the main Sanderson Sister, Winifred, and naturally the little socks hanging on the laundry line turned into witch's stockings.  I covered all the quilts in white until I could come up with an idea.  The white actually sparked the idea that two of them could be plain white sheets/ ghosts and then I just turned the last one into a Halloween colored quilt with a few random patches.  I couldn't leave this little scene without coming up with a costume for the dog, so I made him into a pumpkin. 

Then I remembered the two ladies behind my little clown who were folding a quilt.  And I thought they should be the other two Sanderson siters, Sarah and Mary.  And I just turned their quilt into a sign that reads Hocus Pocus. So now all of the Sanderson Sisters are present and accounted for. 

Longtime blog followers may remember that The Harris Sisters paid homage to the Sanderson Sisters a few years ago.  

And it just kind of snowballed them there.  I incorporated all sorts of Halloween characters and costumes, some of which are specific to costumes that my little family has worn over the years.  Others are nods to some of the Harris Sisters' costumed endeavors, while others are just easily recognizable Halloween characters.   The biggest challenge was finding costumed characters recognizable enough that you would still be able to recognize in miniature form.  This is a large canvas but there is A LOT of subject matter in it, making each individual character around 2 inches tall if they are in the forefront, and closer to only an inch tall (or less) for those in the background. 

Here is a look at some of my favorite Halloween characters from the scene.

This little guy raising the flag in the forefront of the scene became Fred Flintstone. 

This was a nod to the year my family dressed as the Flintstones, which incidentally turned out to be the coldest Halloween on record.  We froze ourselves, but we looked good for this one photo.  

I turned a couple of tiny little characters into Woody and Jessie from Toy Story. 

This was a throwback to our Toy Story Era, when we dressed as Andy's famous toys back in 2018.

And remember that sweet mother and child?  I turned them into Snow White and a bunny, two things that may not seemingly go together. 

But there was, in fact, one Halloween I dressed up as Snow White. 

And Lexi wanted to be a rabbit. 

And these may win the prize for some of the smallest characters in this painting.  There was actually nothing in this space originally, but I wanted to include Raggedy Ann and Andy so I added them in this space. 

Of course, this was a nod to the year that Lexi and I dressed as those famous rag dolls all the way back in 2016. 

I turned this little guy into Harry Potter.

Our family has dressed as characters from Harry Potter for the last two years in a row.  Here is Lexi as Hedwig, Harry Potter's snow owl, from two years ago. 

And as the zany but loveable Luna Lovegood last year. 

I decided to turn a couple more characters into Dorothy and the Scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz to tie into the Wicked Witch I had already incorporated. 

And you may remember that The Harris Sisters all dressed as Dorothy a few years ago when we made our own trip down the yellow brick road. 

And I could not call this a Halloween transformation without adding my all time favorite Halloween characters, the Peanuts gang.  Did you notice the little boy and girl flying kites in the original painting?

They became Charlie Brown in his ghost costume (I had a little trouble with the scissors) and Lucy in her witch costume.  The kids with the kites were originally running in the church yard.  I felt like this area was screaming for a graveyard so I also added one and a few ghosts too. 

As for the kites themselves, I could not rest until I incorporated Snoopy flying on his doghouse.  So he became a kite, pulling a sign saying "Welcome Great Pumpkin".   And if you look closely, you will find Linus heading to the pumpkin patch on the left with his blanket.  That little detail was my daughter's idea. 

So this project really took on a life of it's own.  I worked here and there on all the little details over the course of about a month transforming all the little houses, people, and animals into their own sweet Halloweentown.  I added lots of pumpkins, candles, ghosts, lights, and signs throughout the scene to make the transformation complete.  Here is a look at the final finished painting. 

And here is a final look at how it all started. 

This was such a fun project and I would absolutely recommend.  But if you are a little hesitant to give it a go, I would definitely say don't start out as ambitious as I did.  Maybe working a few ghosts into a landscape is probably the better place to start.  And this trend doesn't have to just start and end with Halloween.  It might be fun to do something similar for other holidays or seasons.  In any case, next time you pass your local thrift store, I hope you will take a peek at the thrifted art and see what calls to you.  

How to Upcycle Your Photo Christmas Cards into a Valentine's Day Banner

As I started taking down the Christmas decorations and storing them for next year,  I thought maybe I could find a way to upcycle my Christmas cards from this year.  I decided to use them to make a Valentine's Day banner.  This turned out to be such a fun and easy project!  And I think you will like it too!  What better way to enter the season of love than to be surrounded by photos of friends and family!

Here's a list of the materials I used to make this Valentine's banner: 

• Photo Christmas Cards
• Heart Shaped Cookie Cutter (or stencil)
• Marker or Pen
• Scissors
• Hole Punch
• Twine or Ribbon

Step 1:  Sort your Christmas cards.  I had A LOT of photo cards, but a handful of other cards too.  I only used the photo cards for this project.  I sorted all others into a separate pile to be stored for Christmas crafts next year.  

Step 2: Use your heart shaped cookie cutter or stencil to trace a heart around the picture you want to feature on your banner.  Some cards only have one photo and some have lots.  I positioned my cookie cutter a few times before deciding which photos to use for my banner.  Depending on the layout of the card you are using, you may need to rotate your stencil slightly to get the desired image inside your heart. 

Step 3: Once you have all your hearts drawn, carefully cut them out. 

Step 4:  Using your hole punch, punch two holes in the top of each heart shape.  Be careful not to punch too close to the edge of your heart or over anything (or anyone) important!

Step 5:  Finally, use your twine or ribbon to string your hearts together.  Your banner is complete and ready to display!

I love how this little banner turned out!  And I hope you will give it a try too!

Make sure you check out these other Harris Sisters blog posts for ideas on how to decorate for Valentine's Day:

• How to transform your Christmas Tree into a Valentine's Tree
• O Valentine Tree! O Valentine Tree! (vintage Disney cards on an aluminum tree)
• A Valentine-y Kitchen Tour
• Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice
• Pink Depression Glass