There is nothing better than a cozy fall girls night — blankets, autumnal movies, warm lighting, and apple-spiced treats — nothing compares to the vibes of fall with friends. But if you’re looking to level up your creativity for a low-stakes night in, look no further. Here are some of the cutest and coziest food-related fall girls night ideas circulating around TikTok that you can steal for your next fall-themed hangout.
TJ’s & PJs
I don’t know about you, but if someone says “Trader Joe’s,” I get activated like a sleeper agent. So when I saw @briyingling’s “TJ’s and PJs” fall girls night video on TikTok, I was taking notes to make sure that I’d be able to recreate it with my own friends later this fall as well.
The concept is simple but perfect for a fun evening: you wear your pajamas to the gathering, watch shows with the essence of fall like Gilmore Girls, and taste-test Trader Joe’s seasonal fall products like Halloween Joe-Joe’s Cookies, Pumpkin Cranberry Crisps, Butternut Squash Mac & Cheese, and Apple Crisp Milk Chocolate Caramels. In @briyingling’s video, they even make a chart to keep track of their product rankings.
For this gathering, you can either have each person bring one or two fall products, or the host can buy all of them for everyone to try.
Decor is optional when the food is the star of the show, but the decorations at this party are quintessentially fall and Trader Joe’s at the same time, with an orange and brown gingham tablecloth, lit candles everywhere, painted Trader Joe’s bags as signs, and fall-colored paper chains hanging from the ceiling and walls.
Curating a vibe is important when hosting a gathering, and this TJ’s and PJs girls night looks like the warmest place for you and your stomach to be this autumn.
Soup & Sweaters
Aside from the alliteration, “Soup & Sweaters” is a perfect girls night theme because of how simple it is to participate.
At its core, it’s basically a potluck style gathering where everyone wears their favorite fall sweater and brings a different kind of soup. Make sure to make some fall-themed signs for each soup available at the gathering.
Some of the soups in a video posted by @spokanerealtorstephanie on TikTok include chicken gnocchi soup, Thai curry soup, and lasagna soup. If I was attending this party, I would definitely bring butternut squash soup to share and make a beeline towards the lasagna soup to taste first.
The conversation will flow naturally while each person at the gathering is sampling different kinds of soup, and this gathering is the perfect way to set the mood for fall.
Spooky sprinkle embroidery cakes
With Halloween coming up, there are plenty of fun October girls night ideas in anticipation of the holiday. @andreabea.c on TikTok posted a video that’s sure to appeal to the arts and crafts crowd: sprinkle “embroidery” cakes.
For this gathering, all you need is a sheet cake from Trader Joe’s — the pumpkin spice flavor is the ideal flavor for fall, but any sheet cake will do — and a large variety of sprinkles. The frosting on the sheet cake acts as a canvas for sprinkle art.
Note to the host: definitely provide tweezers, because this is a detail-oriented activity. For your sprinkle embroidery, consider Halloween-themed designs such as bats, jack-o-lanterns, ghosts, and spiders to jumpstart your creative juices.
Fall pizza bash
Frozen pizza at a regular girls night is standard, but for this gathering, you’ll be making your own pizza from scratch.
All you’ll need is pizza dough (you can make it yourself or buy it premade from Trader Joe’s), tomato sauce, and toppings like mozzarella cheese and pepperoni. Feel free to get as simple or as creative with the toppings as you want — olives, basil, and bell peppers might also be fun to use to create a fall-themed pizza.
In a video posted by @rebekahlynnkalis on TikTok, the fall pizzas are made in the shape of ghosts for Halloween. This shape is easy to recreate and just as easy to eat.
If you’re looking for a pizza shape that requires more artistry, consider making a black cat pizza with olives for the fur and bell peppers for whiskers, or you could try to make a jack-o-lantern pizza with pepperoni. The options for this girls night know no bounds.
DIY felt pie banner
Pumpkin and apple pie are iconic fall foods, so this final activity pays homage to pie’s prevalence in fall.
This DIY pie banner requires more arts and crafts supplies, such as different colors of felt, lace or string, and a hot glue gun. The idea is for each friend to make a slice of pie out of felt, then every pie slice gets hung to make a felt pie banner that embodies the spirit of autumn, as shown in a video posted by @alexismariemade on TikTok.
While the video doesn’t make any mention of edible food being involved, I think that an evening dedicated to making a pie banner is only complete if it’s accompanied by actual pie being served. Provide a few different pies — apple pie and pumpkin pie must be there, I don’t make the rules — and you’ll have a cute decoration and a full stomach.