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In America, today is Monday Labor Day. American kids have been on Summer Vacation for the last 3 months and tomorrow, the day after Labor Day, is traditionally the day our kids start the new school year (Kitty is starting Grade 3 and Teddy is starting Kindergarten). And so, today, Labor Day, is unofficially thought of as 'The Last Day Of Summer'... why do I feel teary telling you this little snippet of American tradition?
Anyway (blinking back those silly old tears), we have slowly been bringing Autumn into our days. We so love the gorgeous earthy colors of the Fall and collecting all the treasures that fall from the Autumn trees.
But, in Southern California, we have to wait patiently for Autumn to arrive as she takes her sweet time to come all the way down our warm west coast. We wanted to bring her oranges and greens and reds into our home and Kitty had the idea to make a colorful garland. We used the left over paint chips from when we were trying to decide on paint colors for our new home (that's our story and we are sticking to it!)
We needed ::
Use the leaf punch to cut the colorful paint chips into leaf shapes.
Use the hole punch to punch two small holes in each leaf, just above the stem of the leaf. This was Teddy's job and he set about it with great diligence. I love watching him work on fine motor skill tasks as he has a habit of sticking out his tongue in concentration which makes my mothers-heart melt.
It really doesn't matter if the holes are skew or unevenly spaced... the randomness of how they hang will add charm to your garland.
Cut off a length of string about 7 feet long and thread an end through one hole on the leaf and back through the other. Make sure to thread each leaf the same way as the paint chips we used were only colored on one side.
Thread all your leaves onto your string.
Our mantle looks like Autumn has visited our home, leaving her gorgeous colors to tempt us with visions of her as we wait patiently for her to arrive.
Has Autumn come to you already or are you also waiting patiently? Or, is Spring your next season?
Blessings and magic,
Donni
Anyway (blinking back those silly old tears), we have slowly been bringing Autumn into our days. We so love the gorgeous earthy colors of the Fall and collecting all the treasures that fall from the Autumn trees.
But, in Southern California, we have to wait patiently for Autumn to arrive as she takes her sweet time to come all the way down our warm west coast. We wanted to bring her oranges and greens and reds into our home and Kitty had the idea to make a colorful garland. We used the left over paint chips from when we were trying to decide on paint colors for our new home (that's our story and we are sticking to it!)
We needed ::
- Paint chips - about 30 (hardware store)
- Hemp String (craft store - any string will do but we like hemp string as it is waxed and easy to thread through little holes)
- A small hole punch (craft store)
- A leaf punch (craft store)
Use the leaf punch to cut the colorful paint chips into leaf shapes.
Use the hole punch to punch two small holes in each leaf, just above the stem of the leaf. This was Teddy's job and he set about it with great diligence. I love watching him work on fine motor skill tasks as he has a habit of sticking out his tongue in concentration which makes my mothers-heart melt.
It really doesn't matter if the holes are skew or unevenly spaced... the randomness of how they hang will add charm to your garland.
Cut off a length of string about 7 feet long and thread an end through one hole on the leaf and back through the other. Make sure to thread each leaf the same way as the paint chips we used were only colored on one side.
Thread all your leaves onto your string.
Our mantle looks like Autumn has visited our home, leaving her gorgeous colors to tempt us with visions of her as we wait patiently for her to arrive.
Has Autumn come to you already or are you also waiting patiently? Or, is Spring your next season?
Blessings and magic,
Donni
