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

Daily Inspiration

If you are anything like us, you love to be surrounded by beauty the entire year...nice weather or not. What objects do you have tucked away that would look pretty in you winter landscape? 

Old pots look beautiful with branches or seed heads tucked into them! 

Take a look around your landscape now and begin planning for a beautiful winter!

Daily Inspiration

Oh, how we love herbs and flowers that start their show early in summer and continue bravely through hard frost! Here you see the broad-leaved borage with it's delicate blue, cucumber-tasting flowers, and a pretty yellow calendula peaking from behind! 

Both of these plants are tough and come back reliably every year!

Do plant these in an area that you don't want too controlled...they are a free-spirited bunch! 

Daily Inspiration

This Witch Hazel stopped me right in my tracks this morning! Up against a blue spruce, the orange almost glows.  Witch Hazels are a favorite around here for a shade-loving shrub (I think it's safe to say that it's my mom's #1 favorite). The get rather large if left to their own devices, but they don't grow fast enough to get out of hand, making a nice shrub to train to a specific size. They come in all sorts of varieties, and boast a spectrum of fall color (reds, yellow, orange, and a mix)! 

Daily Inspiration

This Japanese Anemone ('Party Dress') is just blooming its head off! Anemones are such a great perennial! They bloom through the cold, blustery fall days!

Important Dates!

Here are the dates and times of our upcoming events!

Don't miss our annual open house! 

And our November Seminar! This one is great fun!

Daily Inspiration

Weeping Willow Leaf Pear

Pyrus salicifolia 'Pendula'

This is one of my favorite ornamental trees. My parents have two of them that are trained into an arbor right before a descending stone staircase. They look almost ethereal, with their dusty silver, wispy foliage, and their quirky branching habit. When I got a place of my own, I just HAD to have a few. So, I planted three of them, staggering the length of a winding grass path,  that will be trained to grow over the path (a sort of tunnel in the end). 

Weeping Willow Leaf Pears are an outstanding ornamental. They do great in infertile, poor soil, and don't seem to be bothered by any problems of note. They get to be approximately 20' x 20', but grow slowly enough that they are easy to train and shape to look the way you want them too! 

Their white blooms come out in early spring in large clusters- we always bring an armful of branches into the house for forcing. The blooms are then followed in the late summer-fall by beautiful, chartreuse green pear shaped fruit that are also great for arranging indoors. 

More and more, I find myself leaning more toward the unusual, rare varieties...not just the typical red-in-fall maple (which I love, too), but plants with a wider spectrum of color. But, if you are in the market for a tree that has brilliant red, fall color, the Redpoint Maple (Acer rubrum 'Frank Jr.') is one of our favorites right now!