Friday, September 16, 2011

magnolia leaf wreath

My neighbors have a sort of overgrown, large magnolia tree that used to seriously get on my nerves. A chunk of it hangs over our side yard and driveway, and I was constantly picking up all these leaves that fell, cluttering my flower bed and clogging the drain at the bottom of the driveway. But then on a recent visit, my Grandma taught me to love that tree - because the collected leaves are perfect for a fall wreath! She took some home with her and gave me the idea to make my own.

Magnolia leaves are nice and thick, so they seem like they'll hold up well. At first I thought of spray painting the ones I collected to get a uniform color for my wreath, but a lot of them have a nice shine to them already, and the brown/yellow/green shades are so pretty, so it would be a shame to cover them up. 



So instead of trying to collect all one color leaf, I decided to go with an ombre effect. I sorted my leaves by color and then used a hot glue gun to attach them to a flat wooden ring.

The leaves aren't exactly bendable, so it seemed easier to use a flat ring rather than a styrofoam wreath form where I would have to cover the sides. I sort of layered the leaves a bit to give it a little more fullness and dimension.

This is some pretty darn inexpensive fall decoration too - the wreath form cost me just a couple bucks, and the leaves were of course free!


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5 comments:

  1. looks great! maybe you could make one for skip.

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  2. What a perfect fall wreath! Great colors. Would love if you linked up to the Scatter Girls' Fall Front Porch Party that is going on right now: http://scattergirls.blogspot.com/2011/09/fall-porch-linky-party.html

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  3. Well, I think that is just gorgeous and so VERY creative. It really looks fabulous on your front door. It's very sophisticated and modern but traditional too (can't get much more traditional than magnolia leaves!). Great idea. I saw your post over at "Southern Hospitality".

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  4. Love it! Using what you have and turning it into something beautiful is the perfect perspective for life. I wish we had Magnolia trees up north in Wisconsin!

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  5. Found you at the Fall Y'All link party. The wreath is simply beautiful! Thank goodness for Grandma giving you an appreciation for the magnolia leaves. ;)

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