diy magnolia garland
DIY

Beautiful DIY magnolia garland

magnolia

My magnolia tree is constantly shedding it's leaves all year long. Theses leaves are very sturdy, hard on the mower and even harder to compost. I saved a bin of the leaves for a future project..not really knowing what that might be.  I came up with the idea to use them for a holiday garland when I saw the cost of good quality garland in the store...very pricey!  I hadn't really considered magnolia foilage a holiday type of greenery, but it makes a really nice addition to any holiday arrangement.

The once green leaves I had saved were now brown but they kept their shape and thickness. I used my kids' acrylic paint set to mix just the right green color, mossy with a hint of blue and brown and gave one side of the leaves a quick coat. I left the under side brown because that is how they look on the tree.  The acrylic paint left a nice shine to the leaves after the paint had dried, making it look so "life like".

painting magnolia leaves
Gluing magnolia leaves to garland

I first layered the lights under the base greenery, which is a fake fern looking garland. I attached the magnolia leaves with a hot glue gun to fern stems but left enough of the fern stems to show through.  I added loose magnolia leaves in the back next to the wall/mirror to give the garland a fuller look.

The finished mantle

diy magnolia garland
diy magnolia garland

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