Happy new year everyone! It’s a new year so I’m starting with a project that’s different from what you’re used to seeing if you’ve been following my blog. This paper fern wreath was made with a collection of leaves that I’ve designed and put together into one set so that you can create your own wreath. If you’re not really into fern wreaths, there are other projects you can make with this leaf set because I’ve also included some Willow Eucalyptus leaves and some bud stems. All three leaf types look very different so you get a nice contrast when you put them together in a project. Over the next few weeks I’ll be showing you different projects you can create with this leaf set so stay tuned!
Below is the full set of leaves that you’ll receive when you purchase this leaf design set. As you can see I’ve made the stems for each leaf quite long. I cut most of the stems out for this wreath but the long stems are good to have for other projects.
For the fern wreath I used white 80 lb cardstock to cut all my leaves. The brown leaves you see in the wreath are stained with tea (video below). Tea staining creates a gorgeous vintage look and when you couple it with stark white the contrast is just so stunning. To complete my wreath, I added my tea stained Prairie butterfly stickers. Instead of butterflies you can use paper flowers or ribbon or even some pretty vintage lace. You want to add something that will cover the not so pretty ends where the leaves come together.
I’ve just launched my YouTube channel (finally!) so I’ll be doing more video tutorials from now on. Here is a video on how I tea stain my paper:
Tea Staining Tutorial
✻✻✻ Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. ✻✻✻
Here is a break down of the materials I used for this wreath:
Materials
1 x 12 inch Floral wreath hoop
Hot Glue Gun
Clear String For Hanging
3 Tea stained Prairie butterfly stickers
Fern Leaves Set:
4 Large tea stained fern leaves
1 Large white fern leaf
5 Thin fern leaves
2 Tea stained bud stems
2 White bud stems
7 White Willow Eucalyptus leaves
Paper Fern Wreath DIY Video
This is a video on how I put this wreath together. You really can create so many versions of this wreath with my versatile leaf set so have a look at my video and then go wild with your own wreath! Whatever wreath design you choose, it’s helpful to first lay out your leaves into the design you want. Once you get them in the right places, then hot glue them down.
I hope you enjoyed this one! If you share your creations on social media you can tag me on Instagram @chaivdesign. I love seeing all your photos!
Oh, finally a use for old tea leaves! I’ll have to study your videos so I can do this right. I love the effect. Do I dare ask if you discovered the effect by accident? Reminds me of an ivory chess set we purchased in Hong Kong where the dark playing pieces were darkened in a container containing old coffee grounds and tea leaves.
Love all your Etsy patterns, it looks like I’ll be making a purchase soon.
Hi Pam. Haha no I didn’t discover tea staining by mistake. A friend of mine told me about it when we were trying to get paper to look vintage. You really can’t go wrong with it. The one thing I would make sure to do is paint in spots rather than uniformly. Any time I try to cover my paper uniformly with tea, it just ends up looking like beige paper. Thank you for your comment!