Autumn leaf bunting

Oh my... autumn leaf bunting. Hello new craft crush.

How gorgeous is this autumn leaf bunting from Sea Field and Tribe?

Crispy leaves in muted russet tones plus delicate stitching, and the wonderful expectedness of it all make for a massive hit in our book. We think blogger Chelsea might be a bit of a genius.

Pop over to Sea Field and Tribe to see how it's done.

Upcycling in the garden

We're a little in awe of Grow and Resist's creative approach to garden upcycling.

As you well know, we at The Simple Things love a bit of upcycling. If you're lacking in inspiration, check out Grow and Resist, where there's a stellar example of how to re-use and re-purpose in the garden.

The usual suspects (crates, bottles and dresser drawers) make an appearance, but so do old wind chimes, a vintage bread baking pan and even a rusty stove.

Click over to Grow and Resist to nose around out the whole garden, and get inspired!

Inntravel: The quiet side of the mountain

We love winter breaks, but with hectic Christmas schedules, visiting family and high street madness it can all become just a tiny bit stressful.

When we think of winter holidays, what springs to mind are crowded slopes and busy bars – hardly the most relaxing way to get away from it all! When we heard about Inntravel’s snow holidays, we began to think we had missed a trick when it came to travelling in the colder months.

Winter holidays don’t have to be about joining the masses on a packed ski slope. Inntravel’s winter breaks invite you to explore the quiet side of the mountain.

That means pottering around traditional Christmas markets, relaxing in friendly, family-run hotels, snowshoeing through icy landscapes or (if you’re feeling a bit more adventurous!) racing huskies and chasing the Northern Lights. Or if skiing is your thing, we love the idea of going cross country and exploring the areas that no-one else sees.

Pop over to the Inntravel website to find out more!

Wordless Wednesdays ... happy Halloween!

By Bridget at The Deer Circus.

Hand warmer DIY

Brrr... there's a definite chill in the air these days! Craft your own home-made heat pack to keep you cosy.

Fellow Fellow has come up with the perfect solution to stop our fingers getting chilly in the nippy autumn air. This super simple heat pack DIY will tuck into your coat pocket to warm you up in no time.

Great idea, right? We'll be honest, though - we were sold from the minute we spotted blogger Claire's beautiful choice of Liberty style fabric.

Pop over to the Fellow Fellow blog to find out how it's done (we for one were mega-surprised to find out what goes inside these little pouches!) plus oodles more crafty gorgeousness.

Issue 2 : reader photos

It seems that Issue 2 has inspired loads of you to enjoy some simple things this month! We've rounded up the best of your pics to share.

As we get ready for The Simple Things issue 3 to hit the shops (THIS THURSDAY! Put it in your diaries!), we thought we'd gather together all the photos you've been sharing on our Facebook and Twitter accounts to show you.

Our baked eggs breakfast recipe was a big hit, as were our beautiful terrariums! We love seeing what you've been up to, so keep sharing your pics with us.

To all whose snaps have been included (that's you Emma Mitchell, Craig Freeman, Claire Thatcher, Laura Lindholm, Natalie, Kelly Mead, Threads Cornwall, Salt Home and Gifts and Clairey Custard) a great biiiiiiig thank you!

Pumpkin recipe round-up

Halloween is nearly here! Welcome to our pumpkin recipe round-up. We love carving pumpkins but hate waste, so in the spirit of thriftiness, we've hunted out the best pumpkin recipes for you so that nothing ends up in the bin!

There's no reason to wait until the evening to get into the Halloween spirit, so start early and kick the day off with pumpkin waffles from Pasty Affair. Served with plenty of maple syrup and flavoured with warming cinnamon and spice, we can't help thinking that these would be the perfect start to any chilly autumn day.

A Subtle Revelry has come up with a recipe for pumpkin bourbon cocktails which caught our eye. This slushy cocktail combines pumpkin and bourbon with brewed black tea. We can't quite imagine how this will taste, but we do firmly believe that nothing can't be improved with a cup of tea, so we'll definitely be trying it out.

Just because you're past the years of trick or treating doesn't mean Halloween can't include a few sweet treats! The Sweetest Occasion has lived up to its name with its mini pumpkin cheesecake pecan tart recipe. Is it a cheesecake? Is it a pumpkin pie? Is it a pecan tart? All we know is that this many yummy  desserts combined into one recipe can only be a good thing!

When we said we didn't want to waste anything we really weren't kidding. Our final offering comes from House of Earnest, who've done their very own round-up of pumpkin seed recipes. One medium pumpkin yields enough seeds to make all three flavours, so you can even try them all! Sensational seasonal snacking.

Download your FREE Simple Things soundtrack

We're giving away our Simple Things video soundtrack free to download!

As a special treat for your weekend, we're offering our The Simple Things soundtrack free to download.

Click the link below to have a listen, or right click and 'Save link as...' to save the mp3. It's perfect relaxation music, so pop the kettle on, put your feet up and escape for five minutes!

Right click to download The Simple Things soundtrack.

Edible flowers at The Edible Flower Shop

Until now, we'd mainly dismissed edible flowers as a very pretty but rather unnecessary addition to a dish.

When we stumbled upon The Edible Flower shop and started reading all about green fingered owner Rachael's discovery of the delights of edible flowers, we started to wonder if we'd been a little hasty.

Rachael started planting edible flowers in her tiny garden, reasoning that with such a small space she might as well grow something beautiful and useful. Have upsized to an allotment, she was able branch out a little and found that there were a whole load of herbs and vegetables which produced delicious flowers, too.

Click over to The Edible Flower Shop to find out more about edible flowers and how to get started growing your own.

Alternative pumpkin decorating

BOO! Halloween is fast approaching. Time to get planning! Whether you're past your dressing-up years or not, it'd be wrong not to mark the occasion with a carved pumpkin or two. We've shunned traditional approaches and rounded up the coolest alternative pumpkin decorating DIYs on the web.

Kicking off our round-up is the very dedicated (and artistically blessed) Alisa Burke. We've never seen such a spectacle as Alisa's painted pumpkins. Not so much a DIY as a gaze-in-awe-and-don't-even-think-about-attempting-it, we'd be distraught when it was time to throw these away.

For a much more achievable take on the metallic on white design, click over to Paper'n'stitch. A little white paint and a Sharpie or two is all that's needed for these simple and chic metallic spotted pumpkins.

Ramping up the glam factor a notch is A Field Journal. This sparkly pumpkin DIY combines a pale base with a liberal sprinkling of glitter for an eerie shimmer.

Not dramatic enough for you? If you really want to make a statement, check out Monograms and Manicures. This chevron pumpkin comes in neon pink with a heap of gold glitter to boot. Pair with a green spotted design to really start your Halloween with a bang!

Wordless Wednesdays ... ribbons

By Sophia Jansson at Mokkasin.

See more wordless Wednesdays.

Craftivist Jigsaw Project

The Craftivist Jigsaw Project is an amazing new campaign from the Craftivist Collective.

The Craftivist Collective has launched their Jigsaw project in support of Save the Children's Race Against Hunger.

Some of the biggest names in UK craft have joined forces to try and get hunger at the top of the agenda at the next G8 meeting taking place in the UK next year.

This isn't any regular charity project. As you'd expect, to get involved you'll need to get your needle and thread out!

The Collective is asking crafters to stitch 3 jigsaw pieces with campaign messages. One will then be included in an art installation to raise awareness of of the problem. Another will go to your local MP to ask them to be the positive change they'd like to see in the world. The final piece is for you to keep for yourself, as a reminder to be part of the solution.

Visit the Craftivist Collective website to join the Jigsaw Project now - you can follow everyone's progress on Twitter (#imapiece).

Video : Cheese of the month

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=QV3iw_YgGMg Time for the second of our fantastic cheese of the month videos. As autumn really draws in, Ann-Marie Dyas recommends a Gruyère.

But not just any Gruyère, oh no. This is a 3-time world champion Gruyère.

Click play to find out all about what makes a champion cheese, and what to do once you've got your hands on this award-winning masterpiece!

You can see the first of our cheese of the month videos here - don’t forget to subscribe to The Simple Things YouTube channel to keep up to date!

Autumn cross stitch charts

The Making Spot is our first stop for cross stitch charts, crochet and knitting patterns.

Our latest Making spot finds are these vegetable and leaf cross stitch charts. A little stitched motif is a fab way of personalising something - simple and so versatile. Allow us to demonstrate with some ideas...

Off the top of our heads, we're thinking:

1. Birthday card for a green-fingered friend (mount on card)

2. Hand-made art for the kitchen (keep in the embroidery hoop, hang on wall)

3. Pretty personalised napkins (find plain napkins, embroider in corner)

See what we mean? Pop over to The Making spot to download the cross stitch charts and get inspired by a whole heap of other crafty projects while you're at it.