Magnolia Wreath

I have a huge Magnolia Tree in my front yard and for years I've been wanting to make a wreath.  I finally decided to give it a go this morning.  I found the wreath form at goodwill for $2.99, but you can find them at any craft store (for slightly more).  You'll also need floral wire and wire snips.  And Magnolia leaves.  Lots and lots of Magnolia leaves.

Start by gathering your leaves.  I wanted mostly gold/brown with some green as well.  Use the floral wire to bundle the leaves together.  I use 5 leaves per bundle, 2 green and 3 gold/brown.

You will need a lot of bundles.  The size of your form will determine how many bundles you will need, but on a standard large form, it's a lot, a lot of bundles.  I lost count.

Once you have a bunch of bundles made you can begin wrapping them around your form.  Plan to use one in the front and one on each side.  Wire them to the form and continue to wrap them all away around.  Once you have them wrapped all the way around, you can play with the leaves a little and adjust them to cover any bald spots.  You may need to wire in an occasional bigger or smaller leaf to make sure there are no bare spots.

Once you are finished, use a little wire to make yourself a "hanger" and hang that beauty up!  This isn't the easiest wreath to make.  It took me a good 2 hours, but it was worth the effort, in my opinion.  I know that the green leaves will eventually brown.  I have an idea to spray them with a little gold spray paint which will look very festive around the holidays.

I hope you give it a go and send me a picture of your wreath!