Magnolia Leaf Wreath (A Tutorial)

I'm showing you how to make your very own magnolia leaf wreath. You know the kind. The big, beautiful, full, lush, kind made from the big leaves of a southern Magnolia tree. One of two things are going to happen. 1.) You'll be totally inspired and start harvesting leaves directly or 2.) You will run screaming for the hills.

This is why the 'big companies' charge SO much for this type of wreath. On a scale of 1-5, I give it a four, but only on the time consuming end, it is actually very easy to construct. I'm going to show you how. If you chose number one read on. :)

Now you guys know I love a wreath, my Etsy Shop is full of them, but I wanted to try my hand at this sort of wreath. Typically, I like investing my time in something that is going to last several years (which is why I specialize in permanent botanicals) but I have been wanting to expand into drieds and thought this is the perfect time.

Supplies you will need:

Magnolia leaves, fresh (from tree) and dried (fallen)

Paddle wire, 22 gauge

Wire cutters

14 " wreath form

Time

Patience

First of all, collect leaves from the ground. At this time of year they are all over. Also, involve your kids. Logan helped me A LOT and totally had a ball.
We filled Walmart bags and spent about 45 minutes picking up leaves.

To make a 28" wreath I'll give you the numbers:

I made fifty bundles of six leaves. 4 brown and two green. That's 300 leaves. If you are wondering, I did not count as we gathered, I counted bundles after (specifically for this tute). It took me about and hour and a half to make all the bundles.

(Thanks to Keegan who took pictures for me)

I'm working outside (I told you it's been really mild) where there is plenty of room. Magnolia leaves are so perfect for making a wreath because the stems act as little handles and allow the wire a place to be. (Does that make sense?)

I started with four browns and put two greens on top and wire together at the stem
Pardon my ugly 'working hands'. :)

I moved inside when the sun went down and worked right on the counter. This is when the process speeds up considerably.

Wire on the first bundle of leaves. Wire on another bundle right next to it. Then repeat. 50 times. Wire it on the the wreath as tight as you can, keeping them close, creating a full look.

Just keep swimming wiring...

Just keep going around the wreath. You may not believe me, but it really does happen, it just naturally shapes itself as you work around, it's really neat. You'll see.

This is the view from the back. You can see all the wire from the bundles. At this point, snip off the excess wire, to give it a neat look (even though no one see the back:) It took maybe another thirty minutes to wire on the bundles.

You are done! It's ready to hang. I did put a 'loop' of wire on the back so it hangs at the right height on the wreath holder. Step back and admire your handiwork. You did it!

I think with some care, this will last for some time, although I'm sure the green will eventually fade to brown. So just under three hours, a wreath is born {Whoa!}. Just to give you a point of reference, I can usually crank out a silk wreath in about thirty minutes. :)

All in all, I am tickled pink with the result and really happy I tried to do this. I hope you'll give it a try too.

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DIY Chalkboard Project

I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend! The weather has been so {mild} nice for this time of year, I was able to hit a few yard sale and estate sales, if you can believe it. The season hasn't ended yet! :)

I love being in a family that brings me stuff to 'makeover', is your family like that? "Oh Michelle can do something with that..." is what I hear a lot. So when my FIL brought me a ginormus fake oil painting, I knew exactly what I wanted to do.

Here is the 'before'. Can you tell just how big this baby is? It's 32" X 56", it's a biggin'. I think that it once hung in a restaurant. if I'm not mistaken. It's got some nice things happening for it....nice frame, fabric covered fillet, and the sheer size of it.

I took the faux oil painting out and rolled on a coat of chalkboard paint. While that was drying I scrubbed the frame with warm soapy water and painted the fillet. It had several stains (it's fabric) and a little dingy looking, so I used craft paint and painted right over it.

This is how well it turned out, looks good as new.

After a couple of more coats of chalkboard paint, and an over night dry-time, it was ready to reassemble and hang. I did change the direction of the wire to portrait style vs. landscape. Aside from cleaning, I did nothing else to the frame, I love it when that happens!

I hung it on this little small wall we have by the back door and hung it low enough that Logan can have his fun with it too.

As you probably know, you should always 'season' the board before using, which I did and wrote a little seasonally appropriate quote.

I hung my maple leaf garland across the top, just for fun. I broke took off a couple of leaves so it wasn't too long. If you would like to see how to make this Maple Leaf Garland yourself, click HERE. It's a fun project too.

Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope you're inspired to make yourself a chalkboard!

Joining Sarah

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Happy Friday!

I wanted to send you off into the weekend with some beauties I've added to the shop. I have a serious love for plaid, as I'm sure you know by now, but I'm trying to mix it up a bit and hit a few more styles. I've got more to list, but I ran out of daylight, look for more soon!

Click below photos to take you to the listing

Mixed Pine and Plaid

Traditional Swag with Plaid Ribbon

Damask and Fruit Wreath

Red Berries and Plaid Wreath

Have a wonderful, wonderful Weekend! Hope to see you on Monday!

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A Chevron Gathering

What better way to kick off November than with a tablescape, hu? It occurred to me that I have not done an official tablescape since refinishing the new {old} dining chairs. I've finally gotten comfortable using fall colors with white since I've got a lot of white in the living room, so I'm not kicking myself for going with white, thank goodness.

I discovered chevron comes in a rusty tone, and I thought it would look great for fall. I think the graphic pattern really helps modernize this table....don't worry if you're not a chevron fan, I made this custom size table runner reversible (you'll see below).

I really enjoy mixing patterns and chevron certainly has it's challenges, but I love it with plaids, checks and floral patterns. I used different napkins/tea towels at each place setting to really keep it interesting (you'll probably notice the different ones...).

Vintage Mikasa 'Desert Breeze' salad plate atop my white dinnerware, straight out of the hutch. Charger plates from Walmart (I used these last week) and wooden napkin rings are from Kohl's.

Little acorn salt and pepper shakers from Family Dollar (last year). I love the glazed stoneware look and that they were only a dollar. :).


I was going to put together a tutorial to make this runner but really, I've already done that HERE.
I changed the width and length however. I made sure the runner just hit right above the chair seat, it makes it easier to sit down.


I decided to keep the centerpiece pretty simple....glass bottles and little silk wildflowers. I like the collected look of the bottles. I used a salvage piece of wood as a base and just lined them up and added some white pumpkins.Twigs from the yard help add height without adding visual weight. The bottles wrapped with wicker are from the Mary Carol home collection, I got them a few years ago at Nell Hill's.

After finding a vintage drapery panel while thrifting, I knew I found what I wanted to pair with the chevron. So this is on the other side of the chevron....

A little flip action:

I like the plaid with the floral too!

Along with salad plates, I found coffee mugs too, I love the matte chocolate color on the outside and crackle glaze inside.

So which side did I keep the runner on? Right now it's on the floral side, I liked it more than anticipated! I like both sides really and glad I made the runner reversible.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you're inspired!

Joining Susan

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Random Tuesday {Ten}

This post is solely dedicated to random tidbits that make up life. Enjoy.

We, (and when I say we, I mean Keegan) carved a jack-o-lantern. for.the.very.first.time. in our {my} life!! I know it's crazy, but not even when I was a kid have I carved a pumpkin, or, you know, watched it being done. It was quite an experience. Keegan designed the face and carved the pumpkin himself, Logan bailed after the first handful of 'guts'. I think it turned out great, and is still living atop the birdbath.

Football season is almost over, but this is the image that you will see before every game. The coaches and players praying before kickoff. Keegan is number 87....This makes me teary.

Logan was a robot this year for Halloween. I went the homemade route this year. Most of the components on the front of the robot mostly comprised of objects straight out of the kitchen junk drawer, two Dr. Pepper cans, a tissue box, dryer venting, duct tape, and silver spray paint. And yes I should have cut the 'head ' down a little more, oh well. I was seriously amused at watching him bending over and trying to pick something up, he really was like a robot.


I captured this photo the other day and was surprised and happy to see a monarch at this time of year. It has been a mild fall so far which bothers me absolutely none.

My husband talks with his hands a lot. I don't know what he is talking about here, something of technical importance I'm sure. I love seeing his wedding band, is that weird?

Well, check this dream off my list. One of my wreaths made the front page of Etsy. Yes, I took a picture of the screen, I'm a nerd. Second row. Fourth picture. he he he.

I bought two new pillows at Walmart. Oh the horror. How many pillows do I really need? I did donate two other pillow that had seen better days, hello justification.

They are soft, and cheap, and look like chevron to me.

I also splurged on another pillow from West Elm (not pictured), see, I am not a pillow snob, I'll buy them anywhere.

The Maple Leaf Festival was at the beginning of October in Carthage, Missouri. I love this building right in the middle of the square. The whole festival was all around it. I love old architecture in small towns. Oh, and sun flare.

This child is turning 15 in two weeks. crap.

This child is turning six in December. crap.

Did you have any random happenings lately? Tell me.
Or better yet, link them up here:

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