Oak Leaf Wreath

Halloween is almost here, a holiday drawn in part from Samhain (which means "summer's end," pronounced SAH-win), the last of the Gaelic harvest festivals. Samhain celebrates, in part, the end of summer, final harvests, and beginning of the darker days. To celebrate this time of year, I decided to make a wreath of plenty with the bountiful harvest from our yard--oak leaves!

The majestic oak has been sacred to many cultures as a symbol of strength, endurance, and protection. So what better leaf to adorn our door?

But lest you think there's nothing about my humble wreath that's particularly fitting for Halloween, some say that during The Burning Times, the acorn was a symbolic item witches would gift to others to identify themselves as witches. While I cannot verify the truth of this apparent legend (and am not sure why witches would want to be identified!), it is interesting lore. And I've affixed a single acorn on the bow of my wreath. You could add lots more acorns, but I figured with a toddler around, I'd keep things simple. 

This is the first fall that my son has been able to say "acorn," and he proudly presented me with a tiny one early in the season. So, every time I see acorns now, I think of him.

Here's what you need:

• A piece of cardboard
• Two bowls of different sizes to make the wreath's form
• Pencil
• Scissors
• Twine
• Ribbon
• Hot glue gun/glue
• Oak leaves
• Acorn(s)
• Ribbon

Here's what you do:

1. Trace your large bowl for the outer edge, and then a smaller bowl for the inner hole, and cut out circles to create a wreath form. 

2. With scissors (or a hole puncher), make a small hole, and loop through twine or wire for hanging the finished wreath.

3. Spread out your leaves, and begin by gluing leaves around outer edge of the form. Apply glue to only the lower portion of the leaf, so that the leaf is not glued completely flat on the form. You want to retain the leaves' shape for a more three dimensional look.

4. Once leaves are glued around outer portion, apply leaves around inner circle, with narrow end of leaves pointing inward. 

5. Once edges are covered, simply continue gluing leaves in various patterns around the form until you are happy with the look of the wreath. Make sure all cardboard is covered. I didn't do a lot of planning before gluing on the leaves, but I did generally try to put larger leaves on the bottom, and I saved the most colorful leaves for the top layers. 

6. When you are happy with your wreath, you can make a simple bow as I have, or whatever type of bow you like. Consider adding acorns, too.

This project is really easy and great for kids, as long as they are old enough to handle the leaves gently, as brittle leaves do tear easily. You could probably use a different type of glue for kids, too, if they are too young for the hot glue gun.