I wish I could tell my sixth-grade, cupcake-recipe-pinning-self that today’s post is brought to you by Pinterest. It is an honor to work with a team that has been part of a platform that has inspired endless creativity throughout my life. Thank you all for reading — hope this list sparks your next great idea!
I am the last person to let go of summer. I want late sunsets, shirley temples, and beach days to last as long as possible. But as I receive adorable back-to-school photos of my nieces and nephews, I find myself intrinsically looking toward fall. I will not be putting any pumpkins on any stoops for a while, but I do crave my own sort of back-to-school rhythm for grown-ups. My plan this autumn, besides wearing red and sitting outside a lot, is to be more curious.
Call it the season of side quests, if you will. I hope to replace scrolling time with more interesting endeavors and round out the season with new experiences and skills under my belt. I want to make art with my hands, finish projects, and try new things.
I’ve put a list of twenty ideas together for how to have the coziest & most creative season ever. Aside from a few on-the-nose pumpkin flavors included, this list will work for the autumn-loving, the autumn-hesitant, and even for readers in the eastern hemisphere just starting summer strong.
The idea is to slow your pace, learn new skills through unique experiences, and dig into creating good things with your hands. I hope at least one concept on my list strikes an idea for your next creative endeavor. Get some friends to do the list with you, start a group chat about your own goals for “grown-up back to school,” settle in, cozy up, and make some magic!
I also created a Pinterest board with all of these ideas saved and ready to go, if you’d like to pin a few of these concepts on your own side quest idea board.
Here are all the ideas to try:
1. Start a simple scrapbook
Documenting life is a practice that will serve you forever. If you can presently get in the habit of documenting, your future self will be so rewarded by your efforts. I do not mean taking a video clip at a concert; I mean putting into writing how things presently feel and what you think about them.
I recently went through some old journals I kept in college and learned so much about who I was. It’s funny to see threads between what I was struggling with then, and how much of it is the same thing in a different font now. I am so thankful I wrote so much down, because I can revisit my adolescence and college years with new eyes of appreciation and growth. It was a good reminder that I should still be documenting, as my older self will be giddy to look back at my twenties, too.
You do not need endless washi tape, gel pens, or scrapbook paper (I say with two boxes of all of the above shoved in my wardrobe currently). Just a blank journal and a pen. I tape in photos as well. Paint the people in your life currently as characters, add vivid descriptions. Document really good days and really bad ones. Recall how things felt, sounded, and smelled. Write a little bit before bed each night; you will be so glad you did.
2. Make a quote log
I have been illustrating many meaningful quotes lately, and it has refreshed my heart to dwell on meaningful words. Get out some colored pencils and illustrate your own, if you please! Even if you are not looking for an art project, consider creating one place to keep all quotes that catch your heart. Keep an ongoing log in a notebook or a digital document.
Imagine lighting a candle, pouring a hot cup of tea, and going back through your favorite books, movies, and songs to start a quote log. You will be surprised to see the words that have inspired you throughout the years all in one place — you may even spot patterns in what kind of words impact you.
3. Become a farmers market regular
In my old zip code, I visited the same three stands at the farmers market every Saturday. I saw my juice guy, then the pad thai couple, then the boba tea bros for a cold drink for the walk home. They knew me, I knew them.
The only way small businesses stay open is our commitment to support them. Find your must-go weekend farmers market vendors, and support them until the end of the season. Perhaps it’s produce, meat, or flowers — just get to know them by name and commit to helping their business thrive for the season.
4. Embark on a great closet cleanout
It is time to be serious about what you never wear, and say, “be gone!” Make a fresh start for yourself. If it doesn’t fit, or it’s stained, or it’s not ‘you’ anymore — let it go. If you develop a pile of pieces, you have some fun options to consider.
If you are aiming for some extra cash, consider a garage sale or selling the pieces that have held up online. If you are interested in donating clothing and in NY, St. Mary’s donation center in Brooklyn will come to your door to pick up any clothes or household items.
If you need new pieces to replace what you don’t want to keep, host a clothing swap with a large group of friends. Invite a lot of people for a lot of options — then donate whatever does not find a home.
Make it light, fun, and simple to browse your own closet.
5. Become your own Pumpkin Spice Latte Factory
This is the personal recipe I use to make DELICIOUS syrup I put in everything — coffee, chai, and especially matcha.
I will admit that the flavoring is so good, it makes me start to understand why people love autumn so much. It temporarily converts me into an autumn person whenever I have it in my fridge. Beware.
6. Make THE Pumpkin Fog
If I owned a cafe, this would be my signature fall drink. And I would anticipate a line forming outside the door at its release, honestly.
Here is how I brew up Pumpkin Fogs: A cozy autumn twist on a London Fog
7. Explore a new skill
I often feel the impulse to invest in every niche craft idea that comes to mind, but I am (trying to) limit myself to getting really good at two (maybe three…I’ll allow it) crafting hobbies in the fall.
Instead of the typical get-an-idea, spend the money, kind of never come back to it loop — I am going to pick two crafts I want to actually invest time into and develop a skill. Like, let’s actually get really shockingly good at some skill.
Needlepoint, embroidery, sewing, writing, ceramics, watercolor, lettering, baking, cooking, sketching, knitting — anything you make with your hands! Use YouTube to watch tutorials, develop a more robust understanding of the art itself, and give yourself a chance to get good before moving to the next idea.
Throughout my life, the ability to make things with my hands has been a gift and balm in hard times. Making with my hands unfurls my nervous system. Let us embark on this unfurling together.
8. Write to a pen pal
Snail mail is so back. Stamps, ballpoint pens, elaborate envelopes. Start sending friends or family handwritten letters in the mail.
Many non-profits also assist in connecting you with nursing home residents to partner up for letter-writing. You can spend an afternoon making birthday cards for someone who may not otherwise receive one. In fact, you could gather a whole group of friends to make cards together!
I will be opening up a fall Pen Pal application for readers of Feeling! in late September — keep an eye out if you’d like me to personally match you to another dedicated letter-writer.
9. Decorate your device
Every month, I release a collection of desktop and phone wallpapers for supporting subscribers of Feeling! Last month, a reader messaged me saying that she frequently uses our designs to change her desktop computer’s backdrop at work. Much to my delight, this has gotten the attention of her co-workers, who now engage in the seasonal “choosing of the wallpaper” as a group effort. It really is the little things!
Most of us have to look at a screen for work, so we might as well dress it up. I designed some phone wallpapers for everyone. Feel free to save any that strike your fancy, and give your tech a little pep.
10. Make someone a birthday cake
I started a list with my friends’ names and their favorite flavor of cake. I’ve tried to make myself a birthday cake fairy, of sorts. There are far more qualified bakers, but I do love a challenge.
This fall, commit to making one person a homemade birthday cake.
Last year at Thanksgiving, I made the best cake I’ve ever attempted. A sweet potato sponge cake with black sesame frosting. If you are looking for something uniquely seasonal — here is my recipe:
11. Start a sketchbook
I recently wrote out my top tips for illustrating. I will summarize tip number one: make drawing a process you love to come back to. Reduce the barrier of entry by making it as simple as possible to start.
Try out an empty book (or just blank pages of paper) with fresh colored pencils, and put it somewhere you will see it daily. Sketch a little while you eat breakfast, on the train, or in the car while waiting to pick up kids from school. Wherever you have a minute to decompress, try turning to a blank page over a scroll.
12. Redecorate with the things you already own
Nothing is stopping you from moving all your furniture around and giving your space a fresh look. One particularly dreary winter, my husband and I flipped the bedrooms around and made a movie room, just because we could. If we didn’t like it, we could always move it back!
If your space is feeling a little stale, consider a refresh using everything you already own. Change out the location of blankets, throw pillows, artwork, and accessories for an immediate impact. Reorganize the bookshelf, re-ordering favorite novels. Swap out photos in frames. Or, perhaps, move all your furniture around into something new.
13. Stealth baking
Choose one chocolate chip cookie recipe. Choose one person in your life who is really going through it right now. Bake cookies. Place on doorstep. RUN!
14. Choose the outside table
Seize any opportunity that presents itself to be outside, while you still can. If you live somewhere that snows during the winter, you will likely be glad you took this time to sit outside (even a little sweaty) for working, writing, creating, or walking. If you are meeting up for coffee or dinner, choose that outdoor table until the weather no longer permits it.
15. Dress the table
Even if you aren’t up for hosting a full-blown dinner party, take one night to spruce up the table, just for your household. If you live with a family (especially kids), they would enjoy being brought into the creative process too. Ask a child to decorate the table one night, and I bet they will own that challenge.
No need to buy anything new. In fact, I frequently tablescape with seasonal foods whenever I want to spruce things up! Apples with ribbon is a fall staple for me.
16. Get connected with a non-profit in your neighborhood
Beyond just a day of volunteering, I am looking for a new non-profit to form a relationship with this season since I just moved somewhere new. With a few searches online, I already have a list of locations to consider. Whatever passion is in your heart, there is likely a non-profit in your neighborhood looking for someone just like you to help.
I think serving others is an underrated and overlooked necessity. Apart from any impact you make on others, the practice of routinely showing up to help will affect your own perspective. Make friends somewhere new, wear a neon vest or whatever they ask you to do, clean floors, organize pantries, feed others. You can recruit some familiar friends to commit to showing up with you for a season — working together side-by-side is a great way to deepen an already existing friendship.
17. Make SOUP
For this end-of-summer-early-fall feeling, I have a delicious lemon chicken noodle soup that fits the bill. Cozy, but zesty. Make a giant pot and eat for days, the way soup is intended. Here is my recipe:
18. Begin a pumpkin spice latte fantasy league
If you are the type of person who longs for the PSL, you probably have some friends who are the same way. Form a group message and begin to rank your PSL’s through the season — whether homemade or from a new café you’re trying. Just shoot a text when you get a latte, with a star ranking.
This communal effort could compound into a bracket. It could even result in a PSL crawl. Or crowning an ultimate winner for the official best PSL in your neighborhood. Take this wherever it needs to go and boost the small businesses around you, PSL-lovers. Fly, fly!
19. Read before bed often
This is so straightforward, so simple, yet so forgotten. We feel better when we read before shutting our eyes. Take your brain to a compelling story before shutting your eyes. I especially enjoy fiction at nighttime — usually something light-hearted (the Emma M. Lion series, currently).
I will be hosting a fall reading challenge in September; if you’d like to participate, you will have the chance to log all the books you read for a chance to win an exciting prize. This may prompt a visit to your local bookshop to prepare accordingly.
20. Make a seasonal bucket list
Take some of my ideas if you like them, add your own, be sure to write it down, and hang it somewhere you will see! Anything that excites you and makes the season ahead feel anticipatory with goodness is worth adding to the list.
I made a very seasonal, printable Fall bucket list for anyone who would like to check it off below:
I hope ideas here sparked a desire to make the season ahead cozy and full of side quests. There is so much to look forward to, if you really think about it.
If you have some ideas for what you will be curious about — current projects, skills, books worth investigating, etc. — please share in the comments! I’d love to compile a list of what you will all be up to and share it in a later publication.
I also will be choosing some commenters to receive a free subscription to Feeling! for the season ahead, with the hopes the subscription will help keep you inspired.
XO Jenna O.
JOY-SCROLLING:
Ideas for a Seasonal Home Refresh
The sun is setting earlier, the temperature is slowly dropping, and the leaves on my street are beginning to fade to gold. The sidewalks of New York are filling with wool coats and steaming coffee cups in hand.
August Print Dispatch
Good afternoon from cardboard box land! Last Thursday, one of the hottest days of the summer, I moved into a Brooklyn brownstone. Life doesn’t really stop when you move, so I’ve been operating amongst the boxes, wearing random outfits from wherever I can find them in the chaos, and often looking for a missing spatula.
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Love your enthusiasm, Jenna. It's really quite contagious. 😊👍
I would really like to read “Cherry Baby” this fall. Maybe the Shady Hollow series as well! One hobby that would be fun to try again is crocheting. I think it would be great fun to crochet coasters and place settings 😊