Temperatures are cooling down, horchata coffee is brewing and pumpkin patches are open and ready for your visit.
If you're looking for another way to celebrate fall, Halloween and Día de los Muertos, Tucson's many maker spaces are offering all kinds of autumn-themed crafts this month.
From painting to paper flowers, here's where you can explore your creative side in October.
Paint your heart out
Arte Bella has Halloween-themed painting classes on its schedule this month.
Our favorite paint spots are hosting dozens of spooky paint nights this month. Paint Disney villains, colorful pumpkins, witches and creepy trees.
Check out the following links for classes at local shops:
- Creative Juice, 2959 N. Swan Road
- October class schedule here, including a Halloween cat, sugar skulls, a witch and Jack and Sally from "The Nightmare Before Christmas"
- Tipsy Picasso, varying locations
- October class schedule here, including Jack and Sally wine glasses, "Hocus Pocus" and a painting of Disney's Maleficent
- Arte Bella, 5870 E. Broadway in Park Place Mall, and 340 N. Fourth Ave.
- Creative Kind, 2905 E. Skyline Dr.
- Sign up for a Halloween watercolor class here, where you'll paint a cat, pumpkin and haunted house
Create your own glass pumpkin
For $95, you can make your own pumpkin at Sonoran Glass School.
Get an introduction to furnace glassblowing at Sonoran Glass School, 633 W. 18th St., with their pumpkin fiesta.
The $95 make-your-own pumpkin experience allows visitors to create their own glass pumpkin with whatever colors and design elements they choose. Proceeds support the school and its youth education programming.
Space is limited and reservations are required. Call 520-884-7814 at least 24 hours in advance to schedule a spot.
You can also visit the school through the month of October to browse through hundreds of colorful handmade pumpkins and other fall-themed glass artwork for sale, plus watch live glassblowing demonstrations.
Find more information about Sonoran Glass School's pumpkin fiesta here.
Día de los Muertos crafts
The annual All Souls Procession is hosting workshops at the MSA Annex, 267 S. Avenida de Convento, every Sunday in October, where attendees can make cardboard masks or add to the event’s large-scale community puppet.
The annual All Souls Procession is hosting workshops at the MSA Annex, 267 S. Avenida de Convento, every Sunday in October, where attendees can make cardboard masks or add to the event's large-scale community puppet. Find more information here.
On Thursday, Oct. 21, stop by Tohono Chul, 7366 N. Paseo del Norte, to create marigolds out of crepe paper for a Día de los Muertos ofrenda (altar) with Luna's Paper Designs. Find more information about the $45 workshop here.
Luna's Paper Designs is also hosting a number of other workshops, including a paper mache Xoloitzuintle Día de los Muertos dog, crepe paper marigolds and paper masks. Find more information here.
On Sunday, Oct. 24, visit Presidio San Agustín del Tucson Museum, 196 N. Court Ave., for a $5 workshop centered around the history of ofrendas. Workshop attendees will be able to make paper flowers for an ofrenda or a paper crown to wear to the All Souls Procession. Find more information here.
On Monday, Oct. 25, cooking school Flying Aprons Tucson is hosting a $75 class at La Estrella Bakery, 901 N. Grande Ave., centered around creating sugar skull molds, plus decorating a sugar skull, cookie and Pan de Muerto. Find more information here.
Other random crafting events this month
On Sunday, Oct. 24, create a beautiful wall hanging, loosely shaped as a pumpkin and filled with colorful wood flowers with Good Things Tucson.
Tucson is home to lots of spots to get your craft on. Here are some miscellaneous fall-themed crafts:
Creative Kind, 2905 E. Skyline Dr.
Create an 18-inch fall-themed wreath on a grapevine base at Creative Kind on Friday, Oct. 15. The workshop is $55. Find more information here.
Children's Museum Tucson, 200 S. Sixth Ave.
Visit the Children's Museum Tucson on Saturday, Oct. 23, for the museum's monthly "Make It!" workshop. This month's theme is spooky creatures. During the $15 workshops, kids have the chance to design, build and create various projects. Find more information here.
Good Things Tucson, 2569 E. Fort Lowell Road
On Sunday, Oct. 24, create a beautiful wall hanging, loosely shaped as a pumpkin and filled with colorful wood flowers. The workshop is $55. See Good Things Tucson's full class schedule here.
Life Under the Oaks Lavender Farm, 1221 N. Rancho Robles Road in Oracle
On Saturday, Oct. 30, visit Oracle's lavender farm for a witch festival filled with crafting opportunities from decorating a witch hat, making a lavender witch broom and creating clay pumpkins. The festival is $15 per person, but children under 12 years old can enter for free. Visit the farm's website here for more information.
