"Every Leaf Speaks Bliss To Me, Fluttering From The Autumn Tree" Emily Bronte

I'm not sure if it is all of the 'back to school' ads, or if it has been the 16 straight days of temperatures over 100 degrees, but right now I am looking forward to fall.  I decided to make this fall leaf garland from some of the old books I have and post it as a tutorial for any other like-minded individuals out there.

Like most of my other projects it is fairly quick, inexpensive to make, and an  easy skill level.  After all, we are busy modern women with a lot to get done in a day :)

You will need just a few materials that you probably have on hand:

an old book

2 or 3 coordinating scrapbook paper or cardstock

light gauge wire (mine was 26 gauge floral wire)

white glue or modge podge

foam brush

sharp scissors

wire cutter

ink pad in a coordinating color

heavy twine

raffia or ribbon

large beads 

I also coated my finished leaves with matte clear acrylic spray

You can use your own, or print out my

Leaf Templates

I used the leaf patterns I marked 'A' - 'B' - 'C'

For leaf 'B' I printed out the image at 50%.

Once you have decided which leaves you want to use, stack 3 or 4 pages you have torn from your book, and use your template as a cutting guide.  You will need to flip them over and determine which side you like the look of best, given the cuts and the printed words.

Loosely cut the shape from your scrapbook paper.  Clip pieces of wire that will fit in your leaf size.

I used white glue thinned with a small amount of water, but modge podge will also work.  Just spread some with your foam brush on the back of the loosely shaped scrapbook paper piece you have cut.  Add the wire in the appropriate places and stick your book-leaf down smoothing the edges and making sure the paper is pushed tight against the wire pieces.  Don't freak if the wire sticks out a little bit- you can trim it with your wire cutter later.

Should look something like this:

I set my leaves in the sun to dry, which here literally took about 3 minutes.  It worked well to stick a leaf and put it in the sun to dry while I was prepping another.  The wire inside adds a nice stiffness and bendability to these.

For this garland I chose a fall color theme, but I plan to do one just for my Halloween decorations.  Here is a picture of each:

A Book, A Duck and A Candlestick....

No- it's not a joke or a strange version of Clue...it's my latest project!  About 8 months ago, I ran across several duck decoys @ the local thrift.  A few were painted by local artists, and a few evidently by someone's grandkids or something.   They were just about $1/each, and I loved the form, but the paint on a few.......well, notsomuch.  This particular decoy I had already primed over in anticipation of something awesome- but what on Earth would it be??  I am not an especially good detail painter.

Inspiration came in 2 ways.  One: a decorating magazine that has some cool, but pricey items, and the other: a tutorial from another blog.   There is an awesome tutorial on the fun blog Living With Lindsay for a book wreath, and she explains it better than I ever could, and I will show you my book wreath accomplishments below.   The decorating magazine had a large dog form that had been covered in decoupaged paper made from playing card images.  I also imagined forms covered with sheet music, but I had leftover book pages from my wreath project, so in the spirit of waste not/want not, torn book pages it would have to be!

My duck started out uglier (sorry kiddos) that this, but so you will not be forced to avert your eyes from my blog, I will only show you the primed image:

I simply used torn book pages and Modge Podge, and covered him/her up!

When I was covering the decoy, I used my poor raggedy fingernails to push the wet paper into the carved places, to keep the detail.  When it was dry, I sprayed it with 2 coats of clear acrylic. 

 

I also had rescued a sad little blue candlestick that was marked .25 at the thrift store as well:

 

As usual, a can of black spray paint cured the blue candlestick of it's shameful appearance.  Then I simply added strips of ribbon to the top to give it a little 'nest' for objects to sit on.  The ribbon I wanted to use was not wired, but I quick dip in some stiffener made it use-able for this application.