I have been so inspired by beautiful pictures of Fall decor on blogs, Pinterest, and Instagram. I’ve seen a lot of gorgeous neutral-colored leaf garlands, but have not seen anything like that in stores around here! So, I wondered if there was any way that I could make something similar. The leaves on many of the garlands reminded me of paper, so I thought to myself, “how hard could it be? Surely, I can come up with steps to create a simple leaf garland out of brown craft paper!” Well come along and see how I pulled it off!
Gather
Gather all of the materials you’ll need for this project
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- an outdated leaf garland
- roll of brown packing paper
- pencil
- scissors
- ruler
- paper clips
- glue gun
- glue sticks
Prep
The first thing you need to do is prepare the leaves. If you have a Cricut cutting machine use it to cut out leaf shapes.
Here are instructions if you don’t have a Cricut and need to cut the leaves by hand:
Trace the shape of a leaf on a roll of brown craft paper.
Measure the leaf with a ruler. Add at least one inch and mark lines for the width and height. I measured 7 inches high and 7-1/2 inches wide.
I was able to have four squares across the paper roll. Cut down the length of the paper roll.
Cut out the four squares.
Stack the four squares of paper, put the leaf on top, and clip together. Cut out the shape of the leaf. I have arthritis in my thumb and four sheets are the thickest I could comfortably cut. You may be able to cut more than that! Repeat the steps to make more leaves. My garland has thirty leaves!
Make sure your stem is approximately 2 inches long.
Make the paper leaf garland
Remove the leaves from your outdated garland.
Very carefully put hot glue on the plastic piece that sticks out.
Lay the leaf on the glue, but DO NOT touch the hot glue with your fingers. I use an orangewood stick to keep from burning my fingers!
Apply hot glue to the main part of the garland and twist the paper stem around the plastic.
Continue to add glue and wrap until the end is secure.
Hang the paper leaf Garland
I decided to hang my garland over a mirror in my kitchen eating area. I think it looks fantastic with the yarn pumpkins I made. If you’d like to learn how I made them click here!
Well, what do you think???
Do you like it, or does it look like something a grade-schooler made??
I happen to love it, and I guess that’s all that matters! But, if you love it too, I hope you’ll follow my simple steps and create a paper leaf garland all your own!! Happy Fall!
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Blessings, Rich and Donna
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Get the Look
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Love how you used one garland to stabilize another, Donna, that is such a genius idea! The shape of your leaves is so pretty too. Everything about this vignette is fabulous and the perfect way to kick off the Thanksgiving season. Hope you’ve had a fun week, CoCo
Thank you so much, I appreciate your comment! Take care, Donna