DIY Paper Bag Leaf Garland
This dramatic DIY Fall leaf garland is made from brown paper bags! It looks surprisingly realistic and costs next to nothing. Grab my free hand drawn leaf template below.
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Hey friend, I'm so glad you're here! If you're like me, you've been seeing
these gorgeous large brown Fall leaf garlands on social media and wondering
where you can get your hands on them!
The ones I've seen (like
this one
that Liz Marie used in her entryway) are all sold out, but I'm guessing they
were fairly pricey. Well, after the success of my
copper magnolia wreath
that I made from brown paper bags, I decided to see if I could replicate the
look of those beautiful dried leaf garlands....
...aaand the fact that I'm sharing the tutorial here means it was a success! A
huge success if I might add, and I am SO excited to show you how to make your
own gorgeous Fall leaf garland from paper bags! I'm even sharing my leaf
template with you, you can find that a little further down...just look for
this emoji 🍂
A quick note about this project before we get started - I'm not gonna
lie, this paper leaf garland is a little time consuming, but if you're like me
and find these types of crafts to be relaxing and dare I say even therapeutic
- then you'll love it! It's even better when you have all the supplies
on hand already, so this DIY costs you $0 😉 If you're the kind of person who
doesn't have a lot of time (or a rainy afternoon) and wants to get it over
with quick -
I promise there are lots of shortcuts you can take, and I'll point those
out along the way.
Before I share the steps to this paper bag fall garland, please make sure you're following me on Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest and Facebook. And if you're not already subscribed to my newsletter, you can sign up here so you are the first to be notified when I post a new project!
Let's make a paper bag oak leaf garland for Fall!
We've had a lot of rainy days lately. I've read a ton of books (I even read
Dracula and Frankenstein for the first time ever!) and I've done
a lot of crafting!
I find it very soothing to put on some good music and just create. It forces
my mind to focus on what I'm working on, rather than all the things my mind
would love to stew about and worry over! Are you that way too?
Click here for links to all my Fall DIYs and decor
Supplies
- paper bags (I used brown lunch bags)
- scissors
- acrylic paints
- foam or craft brushes and/or a foam roller
- paper plate
- clear and dark furniture paste wax (optional)
- craft paddle wire
- magnolia or eucalyptus garland for the base
- leaf template (grab it below!)
- pencil
- cardboard
I think I had 11 paper lunch bags left from when I made my
DIY copper magnolia paper wreath. I prefer using them over grocery size paper bags because the lunch sacks
are a blank slate with no writing or logos to cover up.
Step 1: cut paper bags into sheets
I found it best to cut up the seam that's on one side, then cut around the
bottom of the bag and back to the seam. That way the seam disappears and you
don't have it in the middle of your sheet.
In other words, don't do what I did in this picture - see that seam?
Step 2: cut out leaves
This is the first step where you can save yourself some time! IF you like the
realistic look of leaves that have curled a little bit, then trace the leaf
pattern onto your paper bag sheets and cut out your leaves now.
Shortcut: IF you're trying to save time, skip this step and move on to
Step 3.
Step 3: paint paper
Squirt out some brown, green, and orange acrylic craft paints onto a paper
plate. Using a brush, water down the paints. Use broad strokes to paint the
paper leaves and set aside to dry. I was after creating the most
realistic-looking leaves. I found that if I heavily watered down the paints I
got just a touch of color, which was perfect. As the wet paper dries, the
edges of the leaves will slightly curl, in random ways, which looks so
realistic!
If your time is limited, you can either paint the sheets of paper (use
a roller to do this quickly) or you can skip this step altogether, although
your leaves won't look quite as realistic. I painted some leaves first, and
also painted some sheets and let them dry over my fireplace screen, before
cutting out the leaves.
Step 4: cut out leaves
If you haven't already done so, trace the leaf shape (found below) onto the
paper sheets and cut out the leaves. I was able to get 5 leaves from each
paper bag sheet (some of them are a little wonky because I had to cut them a
little smaller to get them all to fit, but that's the beauty of real leaves -
no two are alike!) My homemade leaf template is 7" tall x 6" wide, so these
are big leaves!
Here's a fun little aside - I brought a dried leaf from my backyard inside so
I had some help while trying to get the color just right. Check this out!
But I'm getting ahead of myself, because there's one more step to really add
some realism to these paper leaves.
Step 5: wax the leaves
If you don't already have clear and dark furniture paste wax at home, or you
just want to save time, you can totally skip this step.
However, I will say that adding the wax to the leaves added the most realism
to my paper leaves! I couldn't believe how REAL they looked after this step!
Waxing the leaves is really easy. Just use a lint-free rag (I use part of an
old white t-shirt), and rub a little clear wax on a leaf, then immediately
brush a little dark wax on. I used a small craft brush for the dark wax and
just dabbed it on in small areas. I didn't bother buffing, just kept my wax
coat light.
The image below shows you the transformation. The first leaf has been
painted only, the second leaf has been painted and has clear wax (which
really highlights the paint that otherwise is very dull), and the third leaf
has been painted, plus the addition of clear wax as well as dark wax - see
the dimension it added? I couldn't believe how real these leaves looked
after the wax!
Once the wax is dry (I allowed it to dry overnight), you can crease the
center of the leaves simply by folding them in half and running your
fingernail along the fold about 2/3 of the way up. You can do this before or
after you paint and wax the leaves.
This is another step that is optional if you're in a time crunch, but
it does make a difference!
The next step is where it all comes together!
Step 6: build the garland
I used a
6-foot magnolia garland
that I already had (and wasn't using) as my base for the dried leaf garland.
Here's how it looked on my mantel. I stretched it out and put a small nail
in each side of my mantle, then took it down to build the garland with the
paper bag leaves.
One thing to note - see how I hung the garland with the backs of the
magnolia leaves showing? That was intentional. The backs of magnolia leaves
are brown and the color is more suited to Fall (even on these faux ones).
That's the side I want facing out when I attach the paper leaves.
Attaching the paper leaves to the magnolia garland was super easy. I used
green craft wire and wound a little bit around one of the paper leaves to
get started, then wrapped it tightly around one end of the magnolia garland
two times.
Designer tip: I didn't cut the wire until I was finished attaching
all the leaves.
I worked in batches of 1 or 2 leaves and tied them onto the garland all the
way across. It ended up working out perfectly! I had around 50 leaves total
and used every last one! You do want to remember that the leaves are paper,
so be gentle as you're wiring them to the garland. It was a little tricky to
work around the magnolia leaves on the garland, I kept my wire short
(wrapped around paddle), and just maneuvered it over and under as needed.
Ready to see the whole garland on my fall mantel? Just imagine you're hearing
a virtual drum roll...🥁🥁🥁
The completed paper leaf garland
Isn't it ga ga gorgeous? I love how full it turned out!
Unless you get right up close to it, you'd never know this garland was made
from brown paper bags!
I needed to redo the top of my mantel because the other items I had on there
were too busy. This garland wants ALL the attention! You can
click here
to see how my fall mantel looked before.
This DIY paper fall garland definitely steals the show!
I truly hope you love this easy and cheap DIY as much as I do and are
motivated to make your own paper bag fall garland! I tried to include very
detailed instructions but if you have any questions at all, please leave them
in the comments below!
🍂 Grab your FREE leaf template!
I hand drew my leaf template and it's sort of a cross between a maple leaf and
a red oak leaf, LOL! I didn't want it to be too intricate and tricky to cut
out and I wanted the leaves to be large so the garland would be more dramatic!
If you'd like to, you can
GET THE LEAF TEMPLATE HERE. Print it out full size on your home printer.
Love it? Pin it to remember!
I always try to link to some similar items for those who don't have the time
to craft, but I had the hardest time even finding neutral colored leaf
garlands! Here are a few.
SHOP THE POST
bringing beauty to the ordinary,
I loved your copper wreath so much, I was anxious to see the garland. I love this idea! It makes your mantle look so elegant. Well done!
ReplyDeleteThanks Michelle, I agree! Hope you get a chance to make the garland or wreath or both!!
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