The Fall Mantel: Making a Leaf Wreath
Fall is one of my favorite times of the year! I'm always looking for new ways to decorate for fall. Last year my friend Janine at happyhappynester.com featured a beautiful fall leaf garland that she made for her mantel. The twist is she used pages out of old books to fashion the garland. I loved it! It was something new, clever, interesting, and fun. I could make this! So this year I knew I wanted to make one for myself, but I changed it up a little. Instead of a garland, I wanted to make a fall leaf wreath.
Finding printed book pages that have the right color, font, and look is important when making this. Spending the day in a used bookstore is actually something I enjoy. But I didn't have to go there, since luckily enough I found decorative display books from HomeGoods. The printed pages of these books were perfect - they even had grey chapter pages. Adding these grey pages really created the texture and color I was looking for in this wreath.
So here is a list of the items I used to make the fall leaf wreath:
- pages from a book
- scissors
- glue stick and tape
- thin wire (I used 24 gauge)
- stem wrap tape
- wire wreath form
- leaf shape template (You can use any shape leaf you like. I printed mine from HappyHappyNester)
Using your leaf template start cutting out your leaves. I took the cover completely off the pages and cut the leaves through stacked pages so it went faster. The number of leaves you need will depend on how big you want your wreath to be. For my big wreath, I cut at least 120 leaves. Then I cut pieces of wire about 6 to 7 inches long. Next I taped wire to a leaf, then rubbed a glue stick over it. Another leaf goes on top with the wire sandwiched in between, and voila...a leaf.
When I had a lot of finished leaves I started gathering them together. I took 5 leaves and staggered them, wrapping the wires together with stem wrap tape to create a leaf bundle. Then I was able to easily attach the leaf bundle to the wire wreath form by wrapping the metal leaf stem around it. I went around the wreath then attached a few more bundles in areas that looked sparse. Now is where the wire really comes in handy. Gently bend the leaves to give your wreath dimension and shape.
At this point you could add acorns or a ribbon to the wreath. I just added this plaid deer!
This was such a fun project and so rewarding when finished. I can see many variations with this project, like colorful paper instead of book pages. I was tempted to use gold shiny paper but maybe next time. These leaves would also make a nice paper garland like Janine from HappyHappyNester made - or you can combine the wreath with a garland as well.
Thanks for stopping by. xoxo joan
