paper leaves fall wreath tutorial

We are heading into my favorite time of year- fall and then winter- and I have SO many fun ideas and tutorials to share! If you are a regular reader then you know that I love coming up with unique wreaths to celebrate seasons and holidays. Since we are already into October (can you believe it?) I am kicking off my fall tutorials and inspiration with a simple and sweet idea that makes use of the most accessible supplies.

In a world full of the latest and greatest products, supplies, kits and tools, sometimes I just like to get back to basics- a pen, paint, paper and basic drawing skills. You would be surprised how far you can stretch all of these things!

One of my favorite simple projects is this butterfly wreath that I came up with a while back using recycled book pages and watercolor filled drawings and I knew I wanted to use the same concept.

I started by drawing leaves on book pages and using watercolors, I filled the leaves with color.

and more color.

FYI- Watercolors are perfect to use for painting over something (like text on a book page) because they are translucent enough for the page to to show through and create a sense of layers and visual interest.

These days I carry my Sakura pocket watercolor box and water brush EVERYWHERE. They are the best for travel and for working on small projects.

I created a variety of leaves in fall colors.

Next I cut out each of the leaves, leaving a little edge of the book page showing.

I decided to use an old embroidery hoop which makes a really delicate base for a lightweight wreath.

Using hot glue, I glued all of the leaves to the surface of the hoop, alternating colors, shapes and direction.

After I glued down all of the leaves, I felt like something was missing. I couldn't resist making some simple acorns that I added around the wreath.

And there you have it- a perfectly pretty fall wreath that I will be adding to our living room wall.