Fall Projects!

Inspired a whole year ago by Shannon, I have been anxiously awaiting this fall to make some of my own "festive" decor. Now, Halloween is far from my favorite holiday of the year, actually I'd be perfectly okay if Halloween just ceased to exist. I like Halloween just about as much as I like onions, and gosh do I hate onions (just ask my husband, or Jen, or my parents who raised me - they will all give you the same answer)!

So, instead of going the spooky route, I decided to start off my fall decorating with a leaf project. That's right, homemade leaves. Sounds pretty exciting, right?

Well you just take a look...

See, these are fun, festive, crafty-looking leaves!

How do you do it Kendahl??

Well, let me just show you...

1. Go to your local craft store and purchase (3) 1/2 yards of festive colored burlap, a canvas needle (18pt) and some thick colored thread.

(You know, the kind that we used to make friendship bracelets out of...)

2. Talk your 1/2 yards of fabric and cut them in half.

(You will use one half for the large leaves and put the other half aside for the smaller leaves)

3. Then fold each half in half (as pictured)

4. and then fold in half again! (is that too many halfs to follow?)

5. Then you will take your folded burlap and cut it into 6 sections.

6. You will cut out your big leaf out of each section. I did not use a pattern and I'm pretty confident you won't need one. Just cut 2 oval-like cuts and you will have something that looks like a leaf. It's hard to mess up. I promise.

You will end up with something that looks like this. They will all look slightly different so don't worry about making them perfect!

7. You will then repeat these steps for all 3 colors of fabric.

8. Now to the smaller leaves. You will use the other half of the fabric that you put aside. This time, you are going to fold the burlap in half, and then into thirds (see below).

This will create a tube-like roll.

9. And again, you will then cut your "tube" into 6 sections.

10. Out of those 6 smaller sections you will again cut your leaf shape. This is where it can can hard to cut if you don't have a good sharp pair of scissors.

Here is a picture of the difference between the small and the larger leaves for comparison.

Disclaimer: Be prepared for a mess. Please. Don't get mad at me.

You will have tiny burlap fibers all over the place.

I suggest doing all of this on the carpet because it allows for an easy vacuum clean up.

These scraps however, you should not attempt to vacuum.

11. Next, you will assemble your colors. If you are feeling risky, go ahead and just pick and choose as you go, but I am too anal for that. I needed to know what color went with what before I started as to not (heaven forbid) have 2 of the same color combinations next to each other.

(Yep, I am that crazy :)

But don't worry, Craziness is optional!

12. When you start to sew them (yes by hand!), you will just do a simple single stitch straight down the middle of the leaf. Your first stitch needs to start about a centimeter in and start from beneath the leaf and come up. Your last stitch will need to end from above the leaf going down.

You can see below that when you start stitching the next leaf,

it's okay to leave slack between the two.

13. Then you will pull them together before going on to the next one. The 2 leaves will create a peak at the seem when pulled together. You will want to make sure to do this so that your leaves have some dimension to them. It also helps to keep them all facing the same way.

14. Then you just sew, sew, sew until you think that your fingers are going to fall off.

And before you know it you will have your whole room filled with the feeling of fall!

(no, half eaten tennis ball does not come as part of the project...)

And Ta-da! You are done!

This strand of leaf garland ended up being about 8 yards long!

And for you Dave Ramsey fans out there on a budget, don't worry, this whole project cost me a whopping $6.60!

And Lastly, just because I feel bad for bashing Halloween, I will end with a few picture of our newly decorated banister with a bit of a "spooky" feel. Just for you halloween lovers.

Now, don't be fooled mother nature, just because I love fall decor does not mean I am ready for the blistering cold weather. You just hold your horses and let me enjoy my sweatshirt and flip-flop weather as long as possible =)