Fall foliage produces stunning, bright colors and oh yeah, bags upon bags of fallen autumn leaves. Sure, you can rake them up and stuff them into ugly black trash bags. Or you can transform those pesky, chore-inducing leftover leaves into colorful fall flower arrangements that last for weeks to boost your seasonal home decor. They could also make really pretty fall wedding flowers in your bridesmaid autumn wedding bouquets or boutonnieres.
The geniuses over at Idunn Goddess have a helpful visual guide for this elegant DIY project with your fall leaves. For your own autumn leaves bouquet only need some freshly fallen leaves, preferably maple or oak, some small twigs for stems and a little florist tape. Here's the step-by-step process to make your own leaf roses.
The First Bud
Collect eight to 10 maple leaves in a few different colors to give the rose texture so it will look like a real rose bouquet.
Pick up the first leaf and hold it with the more colorful side facing down. Generally, start with smaller leaves first and work your way up to the larger ones in your stockpile.
Fold down the top third of the maple leaf vertically. Fold in the two sides of the leaf tightly to form a small bud.
Pick up a second leaf and hold it face down. Fold down the top of the leaf and then place the first small bud inside of the second leaf.
Wrap the sides of the leaf around the first bud to form the second layer.
No Leaves Left Behind
Keep adding leaves around the buds to build up the rose until you have the size and look you want. Keep it to about eight leaves for a smaller flower and 10 to 12 for a larger flower.
Pinch together the base of the flower to form that classic flower shape. Wrap the florist tape around the base of the bloom to hold the leaves together.
Final Touches
Keep wrapping about an inch down on the stems of the leaves. Grab a small stick to serve as your stem and place it at the base of the flower.
Keep wrapping the florist tape around the twig and remaining leaf stems until you have covered the twig completely.
Repeat these steps, pack into a beautiful vase and you have a beautiful table centerpiece. Tweak your floral design as desired and add whatever additional fall colors you'd like to your floral bouquet: peonies, dahlias, hydrangea, wildflowers, greenery etc.
