Indian Summer Paper Leaf Garland

Fall is my most favorite season. Is it yours, too? Here in the Philadelphia suburbs, the weather has been clinging to the warm temperatures in these final few days of the summer before the official start of the new season next Sunday. With the summer saying its long goodbye, I felt inspired to capture the soft colors of these early autumn days.

Today, I'll show you how I made a paper leaf garland inspired by the indian summer!
I started with the following supplies: watercolor paints, a watercolor brush, a pencil, twine or string, scissors, and watercolor paper.You may remember I used these Kid Made Modern watercolor paints a few months back  to spiff up this vintage illustration--I was dying to think of another project for them.

I started by experimenting with lots of fall-like colors, namely orange, red, purple, brown and yellow. I painted various swatches of color on my watercolor paper.

As I waited for the paints to try, I got to work creating 4 different leaf-shaped templates from another sheet of watercolor paper. I freehanded a few familiar leaf shapes, like oak, maple and birch, but I also found printable leaf silhouettes available here and here.

Once the paints were dry, I traced each type of leaf on my swatches of watercolors and cut the new leaves out.

My "pile" of watercolor leaves felt a little flat once I cut them all out. Real leaves are veined, giving them some body and definition, so I folded each leaf to mimic their natural shape.

At last, it was time to string the leaves. I knotted the twine before and after each leaf to keep each in place and combined leaves in spots for a fuller garland.

And, like that, it was done and ready to be hung in place.

(all via Meet Me in Philadelphia)

As the warm temperatures linger, this watercolor leaf garland is the perfect way to greet the change in season. You like?

How are you welcoming the approaching autumn?