I am not a pastel kind of girl - it's jewel tones for me every time! Their rich colors make my heart sing. Perhaps that is one of the many reasons Fall is my favorite season. The rich colors of the season cause me to smile in anticipation of lovely days to come. Vermillion, golds, greens, purples, oranges and rich, warm browns are the colors I love to wear as well as decorate my home with. As summer days wane and the air begins to cool, it is time to put away all the lovely shells and beach themed decorations I used in the little yellow cottage this summer. Its time for a change while Fall decorations are plentiful and varied.
I did not want to use another wreath in place of my summertime shell wreath in our entryway. There was an idea stirring to make a wall hanging of some sort and burlap was my fabric of choice. There is something about the texture and colors available in burlap that make me think of fall. You know what that meant - first stop - the fabric store. So, Dan and I headed down the road to a few of my favorite places. I shop for fabric and craft supplies, he goes to the guitar store. Works for me.
I had several packages of fall-type leaves that I had purchased at the Dollar Tree when I made my fall wreath for out of doors. There were yellows, oranges and browns, so I decided to use a red burlap for my wall hanging. I bought two yards, knowing I only needed a little for the wall hanging, but I have plans for the rest of it. Of course, I had to sashay around Jo Ann's to see what other interesting things were available and then headed to Michaels. At Michael's I found a couple of packages of smaller leaves that would go nicely with the ones I already had. There was a mesh bag of itty bitty pine cones that I also purchased and some things for another project. Time to go home and get started. (Anticipation - I LOVE the process of creating things.)
I measured the area where the new wall hanging would go. The finished size needed to be 18 x 22, so I cut a piece of burlap 18 x 25 because I knew I had to make a hanger at the top using either a dowel rod or something to tie the hanger to. Fabric is never straight when it is cut at the store, but burlap is very easy to make straight. All you have to do is pull a thread the length of the piece you are using and then trim along the gap where the pulled thread was. Easy Peasy.
If you look closely, you can see the thread I pulled laying on top of the burlap and the gap it left. Trim here to make your piece straight. I left the edges unfinished because I like the slightly fringed appearance it leaves.
I put a plastic trash bag on the table because I knew I would be using hot glue and paint. You don't want to get it all over the table top and risk ruining your table. Next, I laid the burlap on top of the trash bag. Laying the leaves out on the table, I chose leaves and laid them in different ways until I got the look I wanted.
This was my "base" for the decorations. (Picking up one leaf at a time, place hot glue on the back and return it to the place it came from so as not to disturb your arrangement). Next, I added smaller leaves to make the arrangement have more depth.
Now, repeat the same process. Pick up each leaf, put some hot glue on the back of it and return it to the proper place.
Next, I placed the itty bitty pine cones and some small pods I had around until I liked the look, put hot glue on the back and glued them down.
Because burlap is a very loose weave, stenciling seems to be the easiest way to paint on it. Since our last name begins with "K", I decided to monogram the hanging. I googled images for the letter "K" and found one I liked. You could enlarge it and print it out which would be the easiest way, but our printer is not working so I freehanded the letter onto a piece of printer paper and cut it out. Pin the monogram to the burlap in the location where you want it. You will need a stencil brush and some acrylic paint in the color of your choice. You only need a small bottle and they can be purchased at most craft stores for less than $2.00. Place a small amount of paint on a plate and you are ready to stencil. If you have never stenciled anything, a stencil brush is flat on the bottom and you use an up and down pouncing motion so that the paint does not run under the edge of the stencil. Fill in the entire area that has been cut out.
The finished stencil will look like this.
Let the paint dry. Remove the pins and then the paper. This is what you will have.
Lovely isn't it? Nice and crisp like a beautiful fall day. Now, it's time to add the hanger. I had some pieces of wood that are used to replace broken lattice strips. They are 1.5 inches wide. You may choose to use a dowel rod, I just didn't want to purchase something when the lattice strip would work. I cut it to 20 inches long so there would be some wood outside of the wall hanging to tie my sisal to. This is how I did my hanger. I turned the burlap over and laid the wood strip along the top edge of the burlap. I used the hot glue gun and glued the burlap to the wood. Then, I turned it down so the wood was covered with the burlap and glued the bottom of the wood to the burlap. Next, I cut a piece of sisal (jute string) and tied it to the wood outside of the burlap. I cut a few extra pieces of sisal in different lengths and tied it to the hanger with a knot. Now, it was time to hang it on the wall. It only takes a small nail, the hanging is very light.
Here is the finished product and I am really pleased with it. It is something different than a wreath, you could make it any size you want, big or small, (you could hang it on your front door if it is protected from the weather) and it was really inexpensive! Now, how is that for a quick afternoon project? These could make lovely gifts for friends and family too! How easy to do one for the Christmas holidays! There goes my busy brain again, ideas are already formulating.
There is absolutely no sewing required for this easy project. I hope you will give it a try using whatever colors you like. Let me know how yours turns out.
Everyday Donna
Things to Remember:
Paulo Coelho
Live with no regrets and love with no apologies
Live with no regrets and love with no apologies
