Autumn Wall Hanging from a Chipboard Leaf Album

I admit it. I'm not a big scrapbooker. I've made a few albums, but they are used more as journals or technique books than as scrapbooks. So, it might seem odd that I've designed albums for Want2Scrap. But I don't always look at albums and see albums. Sometimes I see the pages as the start of something completely different. In this case, the pages of my Leaf Album from Want2Scrap made the perfect starting point for a wall hanging to celebrate FALL. This project let me play with lots of different materials; fabric, wood, silk leaves, paper, and, of course, chipboard. It also let me use a nice mix of tools, including my good old Kenmore sewing machine, a micro-chop saw and a glue gun. Sure, you could use other tools or even less tools - but I just love playing with tools! My mom gave me my sewing machine when I graduated college in 1982, and I'm sure she had it for 20 years prior to that. It doesn't do all the fancy stuff I see on new machines, but it sews a straight line just fine. Every time I think of it, I think of her, and I know she watches me using it from heaven. Here are the steps for this home decor project:

• Cut a piece of muslin fabric about 9" wide and 50" long. Put a 2" hem in the top and bottom so you can slip in the dowels to hang the banner. Fray the sides a bit. My finished banner was about 45" top to bottom. I spaced the leaves out a bit so the piece would fold between the leaves, making it easier to store.
• Make the top and bottom rods using two 10" pieces of dowel and 4 wood beads. Paint the dowels and beads. Perfect Pigments from USArtQuest, Metallic Light Gold with a touch of Burnt Umber added, makes a great color that sparkles just enough!
• Paint the sides of thick wood letters to spell F A L L. I found letters that are about 4" tall and about 1/2" thick.
• Cover one side of each leaf with designer paper. I picked up 5 sheets of Fall Harvest paper by Reminisce at Red Letter Journals in Grove City, Ohio for this project. I used Perfect Paper Adhesive (PPA) from USArtQuest because I wanted to be sure even the edges were well adhered. I dry embossed the top of the acorn using a Grand Calibur from Spellbinders.

•  Cover thick letters with glitter paper.
• Clip pieces from one stem of silk leaves and twigs and adhere those to the leaves using a glue gun.
• Attach the leaves to the muslin. Be careful, because the adhesive will probably go through the open weave of the muslin to the surface below. So, you'll want to work on Studio Paper or a non-stick craft sheet. Lay the muslin on Studio Paper, adhere a leaf to the top of the muslin, and when it's dry, just peel away the Studio Paper. Perfect Paper Adhesive (PPA) works great on fabric and paper, so it's a natural for this project.
• Attach each letter to a leaf using foam mounting squares. Be sure to cover up the area where you hot glued the silk leaves. You may have to stack a couple of foam squares on top of one-another to keep the letter level (given the bumpiness of the silk stems).
• Attach additional embellishments as desired. I just could resist a couple of small felt scarecrows I found! And lots of bling from Want2Scrap really makes the leaves POP!
• Slip the dowels in to the top and bottom hems and slide on the wood beads. I added two tassels on the bottom (because I found them on sale at my local big box store!). Add a cloth ribbon to the top to make a hanger and you're all ready to celebrate FALL!

If you don't like the muslin backing, try stringing the leaves up with rings or ribbon between them. If you don't want a vertical hanging, join the leaves side by side to make a horizontal banner.

And remember, any time you see something, think outside the box. Like the case here, an album doesn't have to be an album. What you see might be the start of a completely different project!

Check out more of my projects by LIKING my facebook page at www.facebook.com/createNcraft.

        

Happy Crafting!

Joe Rotella