Here's the first of the fully executed craft projects that have been junking up my flow. I've had the stack of 32 felt leaves for this project sitting around for months now and I finally turned them into what they were meant to be... An Autumn Garland!
I got the idea out of a Pottery Barn catalog. I'm sure mine are more..."folksy" but they also didn't cost 40 bucks. I had all the felt and embroidery floss on hand and the ribbon ran me $5. Plus, no shipping and the added pride that I made it myself.
I'm really trying to draw down my supply of cheap craft felt so I can invest in some nicer wool felt for toys and I thought this would be a great project for that. So I pulled all my red, orange, yellow, olive green and brown felt, then started cutting various shaped leaves. Then I used contrasting embroidery floss in the same color palette to do a simple running stitch for outlines and veins.
I made 32 leaves and used 6 yards of ribbon. I cut the ribbon in half and made 2 separate garlands--each 3 yards long with 16 leaves. I left about 18 inches of ribbon empty on each end for a tie.

I thought I might not use them until closer to Thanksgiving, but screw that. I went ahead and put them up on the stair railing now and will leave them up until we do Christmas decorations. I just like the look of them and we're getting pumpkins this weekend anyway!
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If you like this simple project, be sure to check out my page of Cheap & Easy projects for kids and for the home. And look for the Green Holiday Series to start appearing soon with lots more ideas for handmade gift and decorations.

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