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I love all of the seasons but fall is the prettiest. Nothing gives your home a warm, inviting feel quite like fall decorations. I thought it would be fun to kick off the season with some of my favorite people and got to work. We have a very large kitchen table that we don’t even have in the house anymore but I knew it was absolutely perfect for our fall setup and decided it was time to bring it back in.
I wanted to decorate in a simple but welcoming way and that is exactly what I did. I love the colors of fall and wanted to incorporate a few different colors. I started with some burlap fabric that I had and used it as a table runner. Then I used some colored burlap fabric to add just a touch of color to the table. I picked up a windowsill box and using hot glue stuck some leaves to it. I also cut out some letters to spell out GIVE THANKS, stuck them to cardboard and hot glued it onto popsicle sticks, then onto the box. I decorated the inside with some fall decorative flowers that my sister had been planning to sell in the garage sale but gave to me instead. I added in some berry plants and twigs and finished it off with a few fall colored candles.
I added in some more fall flowers and leaves at both ends of the box to add more color and make the box flow more with the table. I also added in a few mini pumpkins because, hello – it is fall!
For the table settings, I went super simple. I started with brown placemats and a piece of the orange burlap fabric across the placemat. Then I placed the silverware on the right side of the placemat and the plate on the left. I added a red cloth napkin across the plate and we were all set. I seriously never want to take it down because I just love the colors so much.
Getting the food table ready was kind of a breeze. And by that I mean that I’m about 2 weeks early to easily find any of the things I wanted. I did learn that talking nicely with local farmers can make it happen. Again, to flow with the table setting I covered the table with a piece of burlap fabric. I added to straw bales, one to each side of the table. When I unwrapped them it made a huge mess of straw all over the table which I ended up loving. It was the perfect simple touch the table needed to be complete. On one side I placed the mason jar leaf print candle holders I had made. 
On the other side, our party gifts for our friends – homemade pecan pie trail mix with GIVE THANKS tags on them. In the center is the pumpkin {that I had so much trouble finding but desperately had to have} beverage cooler. I got John to cut it in half, scoop it all out and that was that. I wanted to fit a bowl in but was having trouble. In the end I just added some ice and the Snapple® Apple Single 16oz that I thought were the perfect fall drink. A few more mini pumpkins, some mini corn cobs and all it needed was the food. I also had a jar full of M&M’s® Pecan Pie out but I kept having to refill it because we couldn’t stop eating them. 
Of course we needed caramel apples, but I had to go a step further and make us a tasty treat.
When we were at Walmart we found M&M’s® Pecan Pie 9.9oz bags and picked a few up. I really, really, really love Pecan Pie and thought to myself, “Hey Shannon – I bet you could make some super duper yummy layered pecan pie bars.” And that’s just what I did. You can grab the recipe at the bottom of the page, and I am telling you, they really are super, duper, yummy. I also printed out a few fall leaves with GIVE THANKS written on them and hung them up above the table. 
I can’t stop there though. I have 3 little kids and most of my friends have a few little ones of their own. I wanted to make sure we had something for the kids to do while we were all visiting and drinking our Snapple® Apple Single 16oz without interruption {hahaha}. I made some green colored rice and added in red, green, and yellow pom pom balls along with 3 small containers and some small and large tweezers for picking apples. It was a fun, easy sensory box that the kids loved playing with.
It turned out perfectly for our fall harvest party. Our tasty treats are seriously so delicious but you can find more recipes here. You can find all of our printables below as well as the recipe for the pecan pie bars.
Chocolatey Pecan Pie Harvest Bars Recipe
~Pillsbury™ Moist Supreme® Cake Mix – I chose the yellow cake mix but whatever tickles your fancy
~1/2 cup butter, melted
~4 eggs
~1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
~16 oz bottle light corn syrup
~2 teaspoon vanilla
~3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
~1 cup finely chopped pecans
~1 cup crushed M&M’s® Pecan Pie 9.9oz . The rest are the perfect treat to toss in a jar for your company to enjoy.
~Pillsbury™ Creamy Supreme® Cream Cheese Icing or whipped topping
~1/2 cup Mott’s® Apple Juice 1gallon
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray 9 x 13 inch pan with cooking spray. Separate just over 1/3 of the cake mix and set the rest aside. Add 1 egg and melted butter, 2 tbsp brown sugar and mix until smooth. Spread into bottom of pan and cook for 15-20 minutes or until lightly browned. 
While that is cooking, mix remaining cake mix with 3 eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, Mott’s® Apple Juice, corn syrup, brown sugar and stir until mostly smooth. Pour over the first layer after it finishes cooking.
Crush M&M’s® Pecan Pie 9.9oz and sprinkle over mixture in pan. Sprinkle finely crushed pecans over mixture as well.
Cook for 40-45 minutes or until sticking a toothpick in comes out clean. Let cool.
Top with Pillsbury™ Creamy Supreme® Cream Cheese Icing and serve.
I hope you are enjoying the kickoff to fall this year. The leaves are starting to turn, football is on and it’s time to really harvest our garden. Soon we will have the cool, crisp air and bright colors on the trees. What more can a girl ask for? What are you cooking up this fall?
- ~Pillsbury™ Moist Supreme® Cake Mix - I chose the yellow cake mix but whatever tickles your fancy
- ~1/2 cup butter, melted
- ~4 eggs
- ~1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
- ~16 oz bottle light corn syrup
- ~2 teaspoon vanilla
- ~3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- ~1 cup finely chopped pecans
- ~1 cup crushed M&M's® Pecan Pie 9.9oz
- ~Pillsbury™ Creamy Supreme® Cream Cheese Icing or whipped topping
- ~1/2 cup Mott's® Apple Juice 1gallon
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray 9 x 13 inch pan with cooking spray. Separate just over ⅓ of the cake mix and set the rest aside. Add 1 egg and melted butter and 2 tbsp brown sugar and mix until smooth. Spread into bottom of pan and cook for 15-20 minutes or until lightly browned.
- While that is cooking, mix remaining cake mix with 3 eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, Mott's® Apple Juice, corn syrup, brown sugar and stir until mostly smooth. Poor over first layer after it finishes cooking.
- Crush M&M's® Pecan Pie 9.9oz and sprinkle over mixture in pan. Sprinkle finely crushed pecans over mixture as well.
- Cook for 40-45 minutes or until sticking a toothpick in comes out clean. Let cool.
- Top with Pillsbury™ Creamy Supreme® Cream Cheese Icing and serve. No worries, there won't be leftovers.
