At Sunset View Cemetery, our caring staff members know how difficult it can be to lose a loved one. Creating remembrance crafts in your loved one’s honor can be a healing way to pay tribute to their life. Fall is a season of vibrant colors and cooler temperatures—a perfect environment for spending time inside crafting. There are lots of fun things you can create from the comfort of home.

Make fall-scented candles.

Making homemade candles is surprisingly easy. All you need is glass or clay jars, wax, and wicks. To create a fall-scented candle, add essential oils such as cypress, eucalyptus, or juniper. You may also incorporate spices like cinnamon, clove, cardamom, ginger, and allspice into your candles. To make it a memorial candle, place a printed photo of your loved one on the outside of the candle or write your loved one’s name on a string and tie it around the lip of the container.

Craft an autumn-themed bouquet.

If your loved one enjoyed flowers, crafting a memorial bouquet or wreath in their honor is a beautiful way to pay tribute. Fall blooms like chrysanthemums, marigolds, and black-eyed Susans make decorative autumnal bouquets. Perhaps in addition to flowers, you include decorative gourds like pumpkins and squash in your arrangement. You might also incorporate small pinecones and acorns into the memorial arrangement.

Create a memorial scrapbook.

A memorial scrapbook featuring favorite photos of your loved one is a meaningful way to honor their life. A scrapbook is a special memorial object you can keep on a shelf at home and revisit periodically to recall favorite moments with your loved one. To make your scrapbook fall-themed, decorate it with stickers and paper in reds, oranges, and browns. Glue pressed leaves into the scrapbook pages to complement the photos of your loved one.

Decorate a pumpkin.

Whether you carve or paint a pumpkin, it’s a classic craft to explore at this time of year. Personalize the activity by carving or painting your loved one’s initials and their birth and death dates onto the pumpkin. To make a carved pumpkin more special, set a lit candle inside it and place it somewhere prominent in your home, perhaps on a windowsill or near your loved one’s seat at the dining table.

We want to wish every family in our community a Happy Fall!