It is true, I made this DIY falling leaves wall hanging specially for our Succah, but truly it could be wonderful anywhere, or at the least as a party or wedding backdrop as well! The leaves I chose represent five of the seven holy species: olive, date, fig, pomegranite and grape, which actually is a nice selection of sizes, something to keep in mind! I'll admit, cutting out all the leaves, and then painting them with white oil based paint (for the water-resistant qualities in case of rain in the succah) took about two days, (check out my cardboard leaf cutouts here) with the assembly an additional few hours, but it was well worth the effort and set the stage for the rest of the Succah, which this year was neutral with touches of pink. Everything really looked so very wonderful and we enjoyed the succah maybe more than ever, and while I kept thinking about what I'll add next year, I was very very happy with the results. Last night a youngish boy came in to see the succah and he said it looked like a room set-up at IKEA, "where they show you what goes with what." So cute and truly a compliment! Okay, want some tips for making something similar? Lets do it!
- recycled cardboard, cereal box cardboard for the smaller and medium sized leaves and corrugated for the palm fronds
- white glossy paint
- good scissors
- clip art of actual leaves in actual sizes
- a nice long stick
- macrame cord in creme and pink (or whatever works for you)
- a hot glue gun
- check out my DIY cardboard leaves cutouts here.
How To:
- Make one of each kind of leaf from cereal box cardboard to trace around for multiples. Trace from your computer screen or print out clip art to trace or glue to cardboard, whatever works for you. For the smaller leaves like olive and pomegranate I made sprigs, which is also a nice mix.
- Decide how many leaves you'll need of each, by planning ahead given where you'll hang the wall hanging.
- I layed all the leaves out on the living room floor as I didn't have a plan, but you can use mine as reference!
- Trace and cut all your leaves, plus a few star bursts for added interest, if you like. I recommend making strands with just one kind of leaf, though with the fig leaves I did use two sizes on one strand.
- Paint your leaves, on both sides if using string like I did, as the string twists. If you want leaves to lay flat, consider using wire. Of course there are many ways to make the strands, I went with the quickest option honestly.
- Using hot glue, affix leaves to string, and then tie to branch, varying the heights, which I worked out ahead of time on the living room floor!
- Have fun with this one, and enjoy! I'll be wrapping this one up and saving it for next year.
