Rusty Leaf Garland

Fall is usually slow to arrive here in the South. And, the Georgia pines greatly outnumber the colorful trees. However, yellow, red, and orange still make an appearance. Even as the leaves fade from the colors of Autumn into a rusty color, they're still beautiful. And for a girl who loves rust AND Fall, this project perfectly combines both.

I started with wooden leaves from Signopoly.

I gave the leaves a coat of Dixie Belle Paint using the color Sand Bar. The color of paint doesn't matter, because it isn't going to show in the end.

To create the rust, I used Dixie Belle's Patina Collection. 

The patina paint has tiny metal particles in it. The paint needs to be shaken well to distribute these particles.

After shaking the patina paint really well, I gave the leaves one coat of Iron Patina Paint. 

Once the first coat was dry, I gave the leaves a second coat of the Iron Patina Paint. While the paint was wet, I sprayed the leaves with the Green Patina Spray.

The paint will react to the spray and create rust. The process begins quickly, but may take up to six hours to finish reacting.

The hardest part is waiting for the process to end. But, I managed to walk away and finish the project the next day.

I used twine to string the leaves together for the garland.

I'll hate to see the leaves go, from both the trees and my mantel. 

Linking To:

Ginger Snap Crafts, Chic On a Shoestring,  Simply Sweet Home, The Cottage Market,  Funky Junk Interiors, The Dedicated House,  Sugar Bee Crafts, Flour Me With Love,  Domestically Speaking,  The Answer Is Chocolate, Skip To My Lou, The Thrifty Home, Flutter Buster, The Foley Fam,  Finding Silver Pennies, Our Hopeful Home, My Thrift Store Addiction, The Painted Hinge, Yesterday On Tuesday, Confessions Of A Plate Addict, My Uncommon Slice Of Suburbia, Dabbling And Decorating, Creatively Beth, My Hubbard Home