Autumn Wreath

 

This time of year there are so many beautiful Autumn leaves.

 

I wanted to capture that beauty and what better way to do that than with a simple Autumn Wreath!

 

This is so easy to do and here I will show you how.

 

 

Gather some medium and small sized leaves on a dry day and press between the pages of a phone book (or two) for a week. Weigh down the book. You will need about 100 leaves for a 12 inch wreath.

 

I used Russian Ash leaves (3-6").

 

 

Gather your supplies.

 

You will need a 12-18 inch grapevine wreath, some floral wire and cutters to make a hanging loop (or use a large paper clip), a hot glue gun and the leaves.

 

 

Fashion a hanging loop on the top - back of the wreath. Tuck in sharp ends or cut off. Alternately you can open up a paper clip so that one loop attaches around one strand of the wreath and the other is the hanging hook. Use a little hot glue to secure it tightly.

 

 

I used the back of a large cutting board for my work surface to protect my table, or you can use a heavy plastic tablecloth. I covered a smaller cutting board with aluminum foil to rest my hot glue gun.

 

 

 

To begin, simply put a little dab of hot glue onto the base of the leaf. Run it up the spine a bit.

 

 

Choose one of your large leaves.

 

Cut the stem off your leaf.

 

Place hot glue on back of leaf at the base.

 

Place your first leaf, pointing straight upwards. This should be the largest leaf of your layer. From there, place smaller leaves pointing slightly inward and outward as shown to form a small base grouping.

You will get a feel for this right away. It's most important to use your largest leaf in the center of your layer (pointing straight) and tuck the smaller leaves around. Continue around, overlapping and turning your wreath with each layer so that your main leaf is always lying straight upwards along the wreath.

 

You can fill in along the insides and outsides with small leaves after you get your base on.

 

Be sure to keep turning your wreath as you go.

 

 

I used a mix of colors in each layer, but it would look equally beautiful with all of the same hues.

 

This wreath would look very lovely done in maple or oak leaves. Perhaps with acorns or berries.

 

But I wanted to keep mine simple to accent the natural tones of my kitchen.

 

 

It only took me about an hour to create.
Gathering the leaves was done in 15 minutes on a morning walk.

 

 

Keep this wreath inside or on an enclosed porch, as any dampness will wilt the leaves.

 

If you gather your leaves now, you can have a beautiful wreath, hand crafted by you, to display for Thanksgiving.

This would also make a lovely hostess gift.

 

Happy Crafting!

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xx