Autumn leaves: what I rustled up

This week I've been writing about seasonal crafts, like how to carve a Halloween pumpkin lantern, and some other decorating options kids can do without using knives. I was also writing about craft ideas for autumn leaves for kids.

I love celebrating the changing of the seasons like this, being aware of and admiring what's around you (sycamore 'propellers', beech nuts, chestnuts – horse and human, leaves), and it makes great stuff to mess about with and make something from.

In the past I've made an autumn leaf wreath from the maple leaves from my own garden but this year they all got frazzled because I was away on holiday for the two hottest weeks of the year, so no autumn show!

This morning we went for a walk, and the leaves are just beginning to change colour. Having been looking at gorgeous images of leaves to go with my kids' activity ideas, I was inspired to make something with them myself. So I brought back sprigs of oak leaves, just turning golden with still-green veining, yellow beech leaves, and reddish-purple leaves from a tree I can't identify. (If anyone knows what they're from, please leave a comment!)

I made a very rough-and-ready leaf wreath, essentially just a couple of twined stems pulled from my neighbour's wall (thanks, Fergus) twisted into a circle, with leaves tucked in. It looks messy, but I like its naturalistic form. (And if I wanted, I could make something symmetrical and more polished.)

At the very least, it brightens up a bare patch of fence.

And brightening up a length of bare wall are these leaves-on-a-line. To make them, thread a needle with the desired length of thread, and tie the other end of the thread around a tiny twig, to weigh down your lines. Pass the needle through the leaf, near the top, alongside the spine, and back through the other side. This stops it sliding to the bottom. Stitch on more leaves until your thread is full.

How you hold them in place spends on their location. Mine are weighted down with a pebble from a high windowsill, but you could tie a hanging loop on the end of the tree to suspend from a nail, or tie the thread end around, for example, the bottom of a hanging basket. These lines of leaves twirl mesmerisingly in the breeze, and although they may only last a couple of days, they only take a couple of minutes to make.

Make a rough-and-ready autumn leaf wreath

This is simply some twigs with reddish leaves, picked up while out foraging for wood for the stove.

How to make a leaf wreath
Start with a long twig, bend into a rough circle, then weave in another twig. Try to get the leaves appearing evenly around the ring. Tie twigs together as necessary. Hang on door.
As you can see, mine is very rough-and-ready indeed.
In the past, I've made autumn wreaths with different foliage types but I think the single-species version looks good, too.

A wreath is not just for Christmas

Sadly, our trip to New England last month was slightly too early for the magnificent autumn colour show, but there were hints of what was to come... like this leaf I picked up by Lake Champlain in Burlington, Vermont (where the town was papered with posters advertising a wool show celebrating all aspects of the material).

After we came home autumn set in here, and on a walk with friends we all foraged for autumn leaves and berries, and I made a wreath for the door - much admired by the neighbours and the postwoman. As you can see I used berried ivy, old man's beard, hops and autumn leaves, plus some evergreen leaves from my garden. To make it, I used a woven twig wreath as a base, which normally hangs on the wall indoors, and wove in my greenery (and goldery and orangery). As there was no moisture-retaining material like Oasis the wreath didn't last long...

...but that didn't matter because a couple of weeks later the weather suddenly got cold overnight and the little maple tree spat all its leaves on to the ground at once. That vivid red is too good just to sweep up and throw in the compost heap, so I made another wreath, using the same twig wreath base. This one only lasted a couple of days, but it was worth it!