A Fall Toggle Switch- Do You Have One?

Do you have one? A toggle-switch that indicates the arrival of Fall? An internal radio button pushed gently by the sigh of a falling leaf?

For me the first sign is a shift in my coffee order. Goodbye to the sweetned iced-coffee and good morning to the warm cafe au lait. Or the morning breakfast- out with the cold cereal and in with the (gluten-free) oatmeal. This colorful season, like Spring, is for me one of the most significant hallmarks of the passing of time and always seems to bring with it the opportunity to recreate one's self, one's look, one's menu! Cover that grill and bring on the soup.

At the workshop we have a similar set of changes. Sewing projects for our classes move from breezy drawstring skirts to cozy lounge pants. Crochet and knitting classes, workshops and camps make their reappearance. The very fiber (content) of the space changes as we intuitively step in time with the swirling changes taking place outside of our workshop windows. And now with our second floor that peers into the treetops, it is almost as if the the artwork of the space, via the windows to the out-of-doors, has been changed.

We all have our rituals. After you've located the sweaters and boots in your home, here are a few quick projects to do with your kids that feel like Fall:

-Make a 'Words Take Flight" mobile by tying birds and other flying things (like tumbling leaves) cut from the pages of an old book to hang from a substantial twig. This can also be installed directly to a wall rather than hung as a mobile.

-Make a menagerie of favorite animals using only fallen and found natural materials (leaves, twigs, bark) and a little school-glue (allow them to dry flat.) Make the scavenging walk as much a part of the fun as the crafting.

-Make a sculpture with a few small twigs twisted into a small piece of recycled styrofoam to represent small trees. Paint the styrofoam and even the twigs an autumnal color or a contrasting color that would never be found in nature. Or coat the styrofoam with a thin coat of school-glue and press pieces of crushed/dried leaves into the glue to create a seasonal coating. Adorn the twigs with small animals made from pom-poms (like a cardinal) or animals and leaves cut from an old paper grocery bag or thin cardboard. Use colored markers to add detail.

For me: closet-changing today, apple-picking next week, and pie is in our future. What are your plans?