For a while I have been wishing I had a garland of some kind to hang on the mantle. I thought of making one out of paper or fabric but I wasn't really loving those ideas. Then a few days ago I realized a garland with leaves would be perfect. With no money to spend on a real looking fake one I looked to the dollar store to see if I could get away with a cheap one. But I was disappointed with the leaves the dollar store had. Then my daughter brought an armful of maple leaves into the house to make fairy stuff and it hit me, I could make one with real leaves. That sounds so stupid like I hadn't ever though of that, I did, but because real leaves are so fragile and easily torn I was stumped. Then the inspiration came to use straws! It sounds strange but you'll see what I mean.
This is a great last minute project, I made it in about twenty minutes. It turned out so pretty and adds that final touch the mantle really needed. I love it! If it lasts long enough I think I'll leave it up till Thanksgiving. The tutorial is below. :)
Here is what you need:
- straws
- leaves
- string
- tape
- scissors
The steps are pictured bellow.
here is is again
- cut straws into 3/4 inch pieces
- tape straws onto back of leaves
- run a string through straws
I told you it was super easy! :) This might even work with hot glue instead of tape, that way you can get the straw as high as possible on the leaf so they hang more vertical. My leaves tilt forward a tiny bit, I am still very happy with the way it turned out.
With two Halloween parties to prep (one at church and one here) I will probably not be posting till after Halloween. Witch is sad because I wanted to have shared my kids' Halloween costumes by now. Oh well, I'll post them in November I guess. Have a safe and happy Halloween everyone! :)
Edit: Today my leaf garland is very sad looking. All of my leaves have curled up from drying out. I thought that being hug up would make them stay fairly flat but no such luck. Unless you make it the day of your party, you will probably want to press your leaves before making this garland.
10 comments:
very cool idea! I've seen some where people have actually sewn right onto the leaves but this is better!
so cool! love it. I also love your pictures and your use of the chalkboard! brilliant!
Happy Halloween!
To prevent curling press your leaves a few days before you make the garland. Just place a leaf inside a large phone book, each on different pages. Then close the book and put book under another heavy book!
couple days later you have flat dry leaves to make your garland with!
It is so pretty Lorajean! I really like how you incorporated your chalkboard table in the tutorial. :)
so pretty! i love this idea - it's so simple but beautifully effective :)
I just put up a leaf banner too. Only, I waited too long to use real leaves, they're all way too brown around here. So I made my own, tied 'em with twine and strung them up. You can see here if you'd like.
http://littleredwoods.blogspot.com/
Hi! I featured your blog & garland project on my blog Under the Pinfluence here: http://pinfluence.wordpress.com/2011/09/26/leaf-garland/
My 6 year old & I loved making it!
...I love this! :o)
...Altho' I did see on Pinterest the other day that if you take the leaves and press them in a book until dry then brush 'em with ModPodge that they will be preserved and last a long time. I haven't tried it yet but thought I'd pass this along.
...Lovely garland!
...Blessings :o)
To keep your leaves fresh cover them front an back with mod podge! They look slightly plastic but they keep their freshness
After pressing your leaves in a book, you can dip them in some paraffin before stringing. Yours looks absolutely beautiful!
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