Decorate for Fall with a Recycled Leaf Garland

Fall is my favorite season. I love the colors, the leaves and the crisp chill in the air. I especially like to decorate for the fall season and since my crafting usually involves recycling, I enjoy using nature's recycled items, or those materials made to look like natural elements. With that in mind, I made a natural fall leaf garland using silk leaves and common recyclables.

I used some new, and some recycled fall leaves and flowers, along with recycled blue jeans and buttons to create a simple and fast fall garland. The garland can be hung around windows, doors or draped on top of tables, cupboards and hutches. My garland is 12 feet long, but the instructions can be adapted to whatever size you desire.

Inexpensive and realistic looking silk leaves and flowers are not really made of silk anymore. The most readily available "fakes" are made of polyester or a poly blend. This makes them extremely easy to clean, especially if you recycle flowers and leaves from other projects. Usually a gentle rinse is all they need. They are also easy to trim if the edges have become frayed.

Materials Needed:

Fall leaf bushes
Natural jute
Measuring tape
Scissors
Sewing machine
Fall colored thread
Old blue jeans
Hot glue gun
Recycled buttons

Step 1
Take apart the fall leaf bushes and stems. Peel the leaves from the plastic veins on the stems. This is simple to do. Pull up each leaf at the base (bottom edge) and peel outward toward the tip. The amount of leaves you will need depends on the length of your garland, how close you attach each one and how big they are. You may want to peel a small pile of leaves and add to them as you need them.

Step 2
Cut one strand of natural jute in the desired length for your garland. Tie a knot 1 inch from one end.

Step 3
Thread your sewing machine with a fall colored thread. I used a mustard gold color. Set your stitch to a wide zigzag. Place the jute under your presser foot with the knotted end behind the foot and the strand under the foot. Center the strand in the presser foot groove and let the length drop into your lap.

Step 4
Place a fall leaf over the jute and under the presser foot. Lower the presser foot. Stitch the leaf to the garland with the zigzag stitch straddling the jute. You will be able to feel the jute with your fingers, allowing you to keep it centered. I scrunched my leaves as I went along to give them a more natural dimension. Randomly place one leaf after another against the previous one and stitch. Continue to stitch to within an inch of the opposite end of the garland. Remove the garland from the machine. Tie a knot in the jute against the last leaf stitched.

Step 5
Cut the leg from an old pair of blue jeans and cut open the seams. Rip 1/2-inch wide strips along the length of the jean leg. Cut each strip into 8-inch pieces. Tie the strips around the garland every 8 inches or so.

Step 6
Starting at a different beginning point than the jean strips, hot glue recycled buttons every 8 inches or so to the top of the garland and over the zigzag stitch. I used flat buttons in fall colors.