Daily Inspiration: DIY

November Garland DIY

 You may think there isn't much difference between October and November decor, but there is at my house! My black crows, spiders, creepy moss, and anything orange and black are put away in favor of golds, reds, oranges, browns, and natural decor brought in from the outdoors (branches, leaves, cones, etc.).

This is an easy (super inexpensive) project you can do to make a beautiful table centerpiece, or a beautiful piece to drape anywhere! The best part of the project is that you can put your own spin on it. You can make it as long as you like, with whatever kind of leaves you like, and with whatever ribbon you like!

SUPPLIES NEEDED: Ribbon, Glue Gun, Scissors, Metallic Spray Paint, and Leaves! 

For my garland, I chose magnolia leaves. 

They are a nice broad shape, and boast beautiful fall colors that stay true once they have dried. 

I used a gold metallic spray, but you can use whatever metallic you like: silver, copper, etc.

Here are my two boxes of leaves- ready to go!

Next, heat up your glue gun, and cut a length of ribbon to what size you want your garland to be. You can even use twine if that's what you have on hand. I like to use something pretty; it makes nice tails at either end, and it looks nice peaking through the garland here and there.

Next, it's time to start gluing! I start a few inches from the end of my ribbon (which you can't see in the picture because my ribbon was bent...I fixed that straight away). Having ribbon at the end makes it easy to pick up and move around when the garland is done, and it's pretty!

I like to stack my leaves up according to color in my work space before gluing, making it easy and quick to rotate through them, giving my garland a nice even appearance. (*Note: If you choose a ribbon that has holes- like mine- be sure to lift it up off the counter a bit when you need to glue leaves straight to it or else you will have a mess...speaking from experience! :) At some point, you will need to start gluing your leaves in the opposite direction you started, so you will have two ends that look the same. The first picture below shows the garland right before I began my transition, and if you look closely at the next picture below, you can see where I did my transition (about 10 inches from the right end). 

And here it is, all done! I made mine about 3' long, and I haven't decided whether or not it's going to go on the table, the piano, or any other number of places it would look pretty! Maybe I need to get busy making some more!

And here's a close up...so you can see the colors!

HAVE FUN! And Happy Halloween!!!

~Laura