I am so excited to share this project with you today. Granted, it isn't extremely complicated, but I just LOVE the way it came out and how easy it was! It is a "maple" leaf made out of small sticks and twigs. (I put Maple in quotes since it isn't really the exact proportion of a maple leaf, but you could make it more anatomically correct if you wanted to.)
I was inspired by a smaller version I saw at the craft store. They wanted $30 for it, and I knew I could knock it off for way less than that:
Here is how mine came out:
I wanted it to be pretty large since I am planning on using it on my mantle this fall:
Supplies:
Sticks/Twigs (The larger the leaf, the thicker diameter sticks you need in order for it to hold its shape. If your twigs are too thin, they will bend)
Heavy duty scissors or pruning shears (this is the exact pair I used and had no trouble getting through any of the sticks)
Glue gun/Hot Glue Sticks (You are going to need a LOT of sticks. I probably used about 20)
Large Piece of Paper/Newsprint (This is for your template. You could try to free-hand the shape, but I needed the template for the outline of the leaf)
My kids helped me gather up the sticks. We found all of these on the ground underneath some large Sycamore trees. They were pretty straight, but had lot of off branches/knobs. I didn't mind since I thought the lumps and bumps along the branches would add character
Next I drew an outline of a maple leaf on my newsprint and then placed sticks around the outline, cutting them to length with the pruning shears after lining them up on the paper. Once I had the outline, I glued it together with the glue gun, and then backfilled in with the rest of the sticks:
A little tip/trick I learned on HGTV: If you are left with any hot glue strings you can use a blow dryer set on hot to get rid of them!
And there you have it! The entire project cost me less than $3 in glue sticks! Totally worth it!
As always, I am linking up to some of these great parties as well as to Remodelaholic, At Home By the Bay and Yellow Bliss Road"s Inspiration Exchange!
