Make a Beautiful DIY Magnolia Wreath from real Magnolia Leaves and an old Pool Noodle
Magnolia Wreaths are timeless, and I think they will always have a place in so many homes! It is because you can use them as-is, for some much-needed greenery in any room or add some interest to them for seasonal décor. Even though we have a big magnolia tree in our yard, I’ve never made a DIY magnolia wreath. It has been on my project list for the longest time; I had even saved an old pool noodle.
I finally got around to making my wreath last weekend, and I have to say, it is as easy as all the tutorials claim. And budget-friendly too. If you have a magnolia tree in your yard or can source leaves for free somewhere, this wreath will probably cost you nothing to make!
Step 1: Make a Wreath Form from an old Pool Noodle
For this step, you will need a pool noodle and duct-tape. If you don’t have a spare pool noodle on hand, buy an inexpensive one to use for this project. Bend your pool noodle in a circle and fix the two ends with duct-tape. My pool noodle had some very damaged spots, and I had to cut sections out. It ended up in three separate parts – but I could still easily get it into a circle.
I would then recommend that you paint your pool noodle too. I painted mine in a deep green colour with craft paint. If you don’t get the best coverage with your leaves, the dark green background will hide these empty spots.
Step 2: Prepare and Sort Your Magnolia Leaves
I had a couple of dried magnolia leaves, and I picked the rest from our tree. I wiped all the leaves with a damp cloth to clean them. You can sort your leaves according to colour and size to make it easier for yourself when attaching them to the wreath.
Step 3: Start off by attaching your biggest leaves to the wreath and add your ribbon
I used the eight largest leaves as a base for the wreath. This helps you to divide the wreath into sections, which will help with step four. Choose your largest leaves and attach them to the top of the pool noodle wreath form with hot glue.
Tip: The hot glue will burn sports on your leaves, so be sure to only apply the glue at the base of the leaves where you will be able to hide the glue spots.
I also added my ribbons at this stage. I used three ribbons which I hand-stitched together in a couple of spots before tying them in a knot around the wreath form.
Step 4: Attach remaining leaves in sections
Now you can start filling in the rest of your magnolia wreaths in sections. Use each big leaf as a section; I had eight. Working from medium to small-sized leaves, start glueing your leaves to the wreath form. Glue each leaf only at the base of the leaf and insert the bases underneath other leaves. Layer the leaves nicely until you have the desired coverage and fullness. If using, add dried leaves at random. Just remember that they might crack and break, so handle them gently.
When you are done, take a step back to inspect and see if there are any open spots where you might need to fill in some smaller leaves.
Now admire your beautiful DIY Magnolia Wreath
I hung our wreath above our fireplace, and I love the fresh greenery and the life it brings to the room. I also love the combination with the white birds.
The leaves are already starting to discolour and change form – that is what you will get with using real leaves. But I love seeing the transformation. I’ll use this wreath as an experiment to see how the leaves transform and how long it lasts. I’ll post updated pictures here as well to show the transformation.
This DIY Magnolia Wreath is easy to make, and you can also use faux leaves if you don’t have a tree nearby. If you are looking for another beautiful wreath to make – look at this DIY felt Protea wreath.
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Take care, until next time
