6 DIY Projects for the Fall

A month or so ago, I had a pair of headphones that was so badly split when I had one ear bud in my ear, the other was dragging on the floor. They still worked fine, but the two sides were no longer connected, and it made running…. awkward. I decided to macrame the two together with some old embroidery thread, and it made me realize how much I miss DIY projects!

I used to do crafts a lot as a kid, and I took the practice back up when I graduated from college. Then, when Sean and I moved to Cincinnati, our budget got much tighter, and I stopped.

But now seems like a great time to get back into it, especially with the temperatures dropping and the coziness kicking in. To celebrate fall, I’ve put together a roundup of 6 DIY projects I’d love to complete this season.

• Tile Coasters. We use coasters religiously, but I’m not in love with the ones I have any more. They’re cute, but they don’t really match our decor. I’ve got all of the supplies to make my own, I just haven’t committed to doing it! One weekend this season I’d like to crank out a fun set that feels “us.”
• Fire Starters. Now that we’re using our fire pit regularly and have two (albeit non-functioning) fire-burning fireplaces, I’ve been saving literally all of our toilet paper and paper towel rolls, dryer lint, and candle wax. Time to upcycle that shit into fire starters!
• Candles. Speaking of candles, there’s a really fun candle shop in town, and they have drop-in candle-making classes that I really want to do! My mom and I currently have plans to do this one of the first weekends in November, so I’m really excited.
• Clay necklace. I’ve got a bunch of oven-bake clay laying around, so I’ve been brainstorming what I can make with it outside of 50 million marble catch-all bowls. I have a fun, basic clay necklace that I won at an event in Cincinnati that I love, so I’m going to try my hand at making a few more in different color schemes!
• Reusable produce bags. I’m all about finding ways to reduce my environmental impact, so reusable produce bags seems like a natural fit for me. Normally I skip produce bags altogether, but that doesn’t work as well at the farmer’s market, or when we have a ton of produce to pick up. Having bags would keep me organized.
• Travel Keepsake Boxes. This is a project I started a long time ago… probably 5 years? I picked up some basic, unfinished wood boxes at Michael’s with every intention of making these travel keepsake boxes from Martha Stewart. Instead, they’ve moved around with me three different times and inevitably sit in a closet unfinished. Seriously, there’s a stack of 7 of them just sitting in my bedroom right now. This season I’d love to finish them!

I don’t expect to get all of these projects done, but I’d love to get 2 or 3 completed this fall! Some of these have been looming, so it would feel really good to finally get them crossed off my list.

Stay tuned!