Dollhouse fall garland

I wanted to add some autumn garland to my Kinfeld mantle and here is how I did it. As always, I try to use what I have on hand. You may want to substitute some of the materials for your own project.

Gather these supplies:

Mantle

Plastic wrap

Wire in two thicknesses (your choice)

Wire cutters

Brown floral tape

Tacky Glue

Leaf punches

Colored papers

Oil pastels

Brown paint/tiny paint brush

Orange and brown polymer clay

Small soft brush

Tweezers

Micro beads

First I covered my mantle with plastic wrap to protect it while creating.

I calculated the length of wire I would need and cut two pieces. Then I covered them with brown floral tape by wrapping one end–stretching the tape and spinning the wire while holding it tightly and twisting the tape around with my finger tips. I am using the tape to help hold the thinner wire I will be wrapping around it later.

Twist the two strands as shown and lay along your mantle so some of it hangs over the ends and trim to the desired length.

Cut lots of 2-3” pieces of thinner wire. Bend in half and feed through one strand of the wrapped wire, preferably near a twist. Twist tight 2xs then wrap around from both sides to the other side and twist 2xs again. Keep going until you have the desired amount. Trim so they are about 1/4” or longer then fold over slightly.

Now cut more 2-3” long thin wires pieces. Dip the tips in Tacky Glue and then dip into a few colors of micro beads. Let dry.

For the leaves I am using the punches I already have, but if you have any grape leaf punches they would be nice! I colored some paper with inexpensive oil pastels and punched out a selection of leaves. You could also use water colors as I have in this past tutorial CLICK HERE

(If you have regular colored papers verses card stock I think it may look more realistic.)

Use a stylus tool to make the veins and roll the tips slightly. Bend in half and then pull open to arch them. This will give them a little more shape. I sort of drew in some veins for the pale yellow leaves.

 I used foam board to help with the curling.

Start glueing them onto the bent wires and also on the base wire. Finish just the first layer and let everything dry. 

Paint all the stems brown. I went in and changed my yellow with paint. 

Next, to create more depth for the second layer I rolled up some brown floral tape into tiny balls and glued on the base wire here and there. Then applied more leaves over them.

I used polymer clay to make some pods and tiny pumpkins. After they cooled from baking I painted them a little and then glued them in.

Tiny pumpkins: Roll a little ball and very gently hold in place on a tile with your stylus tool then use a knitting needle to make the indentations. Remove the stylus and blend the indentations into the center top. Clean/smooth the clay with a small soft brush.

Mix brown and light brown to make the stems. Just blend slightly so there is still marbeling when you roll them.

Add any additional leaves as you see fit.

Trim the micro bead wires and glue them in. Let dry!

Carefully lift the garland from the plastic wrap with tweezers, remove the wrap and place on the mantle.

I haven’t finished collecting treasures for my mantle display, but will in time. For now I just placed a few items behind the garland. When I started I wasn’t so sure this would be to my liking but I have to say I am digging it!

This project is intense so I recommend doing a little over the course of a few days. Good to take breaks too because you see things more clearly after stepping away for a bit. :)

Have fun!