fall wreath with scrap paper leaves

here in Southern California, we don't get 'fall leaves'. 

not at my elevation, anyway. up in the mountains it's a bit different.

the leaves down here in the flat desert turn from green to brown in July when the heat hits.

if they aren't blown off of the trees by the Santa Ana winds in September,

they hang on until January when the new leaf buds push them off.

it's harder yet when you've lived somewhere else that actually has a fall season.

i really miss being able to forage the forest for glowing red, orange, and yellow leaves.

since that possibility no longer exists for me,

i had to find another way to express a fall feeling in my home this time of year...

and i found the solution in my recycling bin!

continue reading for a quick tutorial on turning scrap paper into fall leaves - and more!

this close-up image reveals that the colorful fall leaves on my wreath are paper.

and not just any paper - it's trash!

i culled through our recycling bin and grabbed

pages from old magazines, scraps of gift wrapping paper, junk mail

(all in shades of yellow, gold, mustard, of course!)

and then transformed them into leaves that i could use in several projects this month.

not only does this method make use of free materials,

but it's what i tend to think of as a 'low effort' craft:

it's 'busy work' that doesn't require a lot of concentration.

i can create leaves while i'm watching tv or a movie, sitting on my back patio,

or listening to a podcast.

let me show you how easy this is:

using plain printer paper, i made 'patterns' of a few varied shapes + sizes of leaves.

then i grabbed the magazine pages and ads and gift wrap scraps, traced the leaf shapes onto them,

and cut them out. 

if you do the tracing on a tabletop or desk, then you can do the cutting elsewhere.

(like a comfy sofa while watching Hamilton for the three hundredth time.....)

i keep an empty box nearby to hold the cutting scraps, and put the leaves into a smaller box.

that keeps the mess under control.

then all you have to do is decide how to use the leaves you've made!

when i decided to turn these leaves into a wreath,

i began by tracing the shape of the reed wreath onto a large piece of paper

then began figuring out the placement of the different sizes, shapes, and colors of leaves.

once i had that figured out, i placed the wreath next to the arrangement

and began inserting the leaves into the wreath in the same pattern.

i honestly just pushed the leaves into the spaces between the twisted reeds...

a wood skewer helped to push them into tiny spaces.

the images above reveal a closer look at the way they are placed - 

a few of them have been slightly folded and bent to make them appear the way i wanted.

i recommend using a glue stick or tape to secure them if your wreath will hang outdoors

(only under a protective roof to prevent water damage)

mine is living happily on my studio's faux fireplace mantel,

so i don't have to worry about them falling out.

looking at them all together, they just look colorful - not at all like trash.

that brown and yellow leaf on the top right? it's tortillas! i cut it from a grocery store ad!

when fall is over, i'll just grab alla' these leaves and toss them back into the recycling bin.

(which IS a bit like gathering up fall leaves from your yard

and putting them in the yard waste bin... right?!!)

links to previous related content:

paint chip paper leaf wreath

paper 'dot' wreath

shared online:

funky junk interiors | new upcycled projects to make #602

creatively beth | creative crafts linky party #118

thank you for featuring my project, Miss Beth! 

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