Saturday, October 15, 2011

Mom, we broke the tree...

This summer my boys were doing what they so love to do, climbing a tree. They came to me with a confession: "Mom, we broke the tree." I went outside and sure enough, a branch was bent. We cut it off, and then I saved the smaller branches to make a swag.

First, I pulled the leaves off (I waiting until they dried so it was easier). The I grouped the branches together, taped them together, and covered the tape with patterned paper strips, specifically GCD Studios' Ponderosa from The Great Outdoors and papers from Elementary, My Dear.

Next, I die cut leaves out of more paper from Elementary, My Dear. I cut three leaves from each die: two in different kinds of patterned paper and one piece of cardstock. I used glue dots to adhere the leaves together, applying them with a little pace in between so that I could stitch them together later. After I'd stitched them, I folded the leaves up to make them dimensional:

Next I broke out my hot glue gun, which I used to attach the leaves randomly across the swag. I also used my hot glue to attach a hanger to the back.

My wall is prettier that my door, so that's where this project resides. Here it is:


And a close up:

I tied little bows with linen thread around the swag for a little whimsy.

Thank you for letting me share this project with you--I hope it gives you ideas for using your paper products to add some swag to your house this fall!


4 comments:

Sandra said...

I LOVE it. You are so creative.

Michele said...

This is gorgeous! You should be proud that you made the absolute best of the situation.

Michele

Linda said...

Talk about making lemonade from lemons! Your project is beautiful and I bet your boys felt better about breaking the tree after they saw it!

Caroline Hackney said...

This project makes me want to go and break a tree...;)