Fall Magnolia Leaves These leaves use a wonderful technique I came across by accident, and it is one of my favorite tricks in my book. Using the dye from one crepe paper to stain another makes for very convincing and natural shades of brown. These shiny, burnished leaves are gorgeous on a table, a mantle, tied to a package, or just tossed in a bowl, and once you learn how to make this leaf, it opens the door for experimenting with many others. SUPPLIES
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tacky glue 180 gram #567 light brown crepe paper 180 gram #568 dark brown crepe paper olive green doublette crepe paper 22- or 24-gauge green cloth-covered stem wire Mod Podge scissors small paintbrush wide paintbrush wooden skewer
2. When the paper is fully dry, stretch the strips over your knee or the edge of a counter until the crepe in the paper is as smooth as you can make it. Select one leaf template and place atop the paper color of your choice with the small parallel lines on the template aligned with the direction of the crepe paper. If making a tan, burnished leaf, cut two leaf halves from the stained, light brown crepe, two halves from the olive green doublette, and two halves from unstained light brown crepe that has been stretched smooth. If making a darker leaf, cut two leaf halves from the darker crepe and two leaf halves of the 152 SWEETPAULMAG.COM FALL 2017
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Photography by Tiffanie Turner
1. Create streaks and blotches of reddish-brown stain on 6"-high strips of 180 gram #567 light brown crepe paper by soaking 6" by 6" squares of 180 gram #568 dark brown crepe paper in a cup of water and squeezing the paper dye onto the lighter tan paper as shown. This gives the tan paper hints of deeper brown and sometimes a fully burnished color. Save and dry the soaked brown crepe paper as well, to use for deeper brown magnolia leaves. Prepare the paper 24 hours in advance to allow the stains to set and dry completely. To dry the pools of stain on the paper faster, set on a baking sheet atop parchment paper and set in a 250°F oven for 20 minutes, monitoring closely to be sure the paper doesn't burn.
