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.