candles

The official start of Fall is just a couple days away. Yay!

I’ve had this pumpkin pie smoothie pinned for about a year now and look forward to blending one up tomorrow morning…

1/2 banana (peeled, frozen, diced)

1/3 cup pumpkin puree (Libby’s)

1/3 cup FF plain Greek yogurt

1/2-3/4 cup vanilla almond milk

few shakes of pumpkin spice (Cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice)

 pinch of cloves

1tsp vanilla

2 cups crushed ice

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Have you had your first Pumpkin Spice Latte yet?

I made this PSL knock-off and it’s obviously not the same as the one at the place with the big green circle, but it wasn’t bad. I used coconut almond milk and some brown sugar to sweeten it up a bit. I must admit, a whipped cream cloud and some festive fall sprinkles would take it up a notch, but it was fun to try and a good way to use up your pumpkin puree if you have any leftover from another recipe.

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I love to spruce up our mantel with the seasons and Fall makes it easy to bring nature inside as decor.

I found a branch with weird pods/seeds of some sort on a hike last week and stuck it in with some manzanita branches that I already had on-hand for some height above our fireplace…

Pinecones in a simple glass vase would make a nice focal point, as well.

Grab several autumn hued paint chips from your local home improvement store, a leaf stencil and some twine to create a garland/bunting ~ use a hole punch and put two holes in each leaf to hang.

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I love candles year round, but there’s something about a candle flickering on a cool, dark-by-5 o’clock early fall evening.

Check out these super cheap, super fragrant candles from Wal-mart ~ the Vanilla Cream, Cinnamon Roll and Apple Spice are perfect for harvest season.

{1-wick candle, under 2 bucks & 3-wick candle, only 5 bucks}

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That’s just the tip of the iceberg as to what I have planned for my most favorite season…come back for the next few months for more recipes and sweet treat ideas.

Enjoy the rest of your week!

XO