How to Make a Golden Magnolia Wreath
A gold magnolia wreath adds a rich, elegant touch to your seasonal décor, whether you display it for autumn or carry it right into Christmas. Here in my part of the country, the leaves don’t put on a brilliant fall show before drifting from the trees. Instead, they simply dry, turn brown, and fall—including the magnolia leaves. While walking with my husband the other day, I noticed so many of them scattered across the ground. They may not have been as beautiful as the glossy green leaves still on the trees, but I knew they had plenty of decorating potential. All they needed was a little “lift,” and a coat of metallic gold paint seemed like the perfect way to give them one!
Supplies for making your gold magnolia wreath
- 16 inch straw wreath form
- Greening pins
- Krylon gold paint
- Hot glue gun and glue
- Gold ribbon
- Found magnolia leaves
Assemble your wreath
Begin with a 16-inch straw wreath form. These forms typically come wrapped in plastic, and you’ll want to leave that wrapping in place. Removing it can create quite a mess, while the plastic keeps the straw securely contained and the wreath form neat and tidy as you work.
Use a greening pin to secure the end of the ribbon to the straw wreath form and then begin wrapping the gold ribbon around the wreath overlapping the edges so that all of the straw is covered with the ribbon. When you get to the end, with the entire wreath covered, secure the end of the ribbon with another greening pin.
Gather your magnolia leaves and wipe them off carefully with a damp paper towel. Let them dry completely and then turn them all right side up. Paint the leaves with the Krylon metallic gold paint an let them dry completely. You do not have to paint the underside of the leaves.
Next, it was time to heat up the glue gun and begin attaching the magnolia leaves to the wreath form. I layered the leaves one at a time, overlapping them as I worked, until the wreath looked beautifully full and lush.
I’m delighted with how my golden magnolia leaf wreath turned out and plan to enjoy it throughout the fall. When Christmas arrives, I may tuck in a few red accents to give it a festive holiday look.
Love this Chloe! I emailed it my mom. She lives in FL and has a magnolia tree. She loves gold too! I”m going to ask her to bring me some leaves at Thanksgiving.
Thank you Dawn. The leaves are all over the ground, I am thinking about making chargers with them too!
I love magnolia trees and bringing a bit of them indoors is such a great idea. Isn’t it amazing what you can achieve with a simple can of spray paint!
Thanks Sandra! I love experimenting with gold and silver paint.
Beautiful! Magnolias are a favorite, and I LOVE the gold. I’m so happy gold is back in style. For a while it was all silver, and I missed the warmth that gold brings to decor, especially at Christmas. Thanks for sharing your lovely creation.
Chloe, this is beautiful! I miss the magnolia trees from the South now that I’m in Seattle. A couple weeks ago, I even begged people on Twitter to send me some leaves just so I could make a wreath.
Sadly, no one took me up on that offer, so I’ll have to just admire your beautiful wreath! Thank you so much for sharing this with us at Thank Goodness It’s Thursday. Pinned and tweeted!
From one wreath love to another Chloe, this is amazing! I am drawn to its simple elegance and the fact that it an easy DIY! That is right up my alley! I am pinning this super pretty project! 🙂
Thank you so much for your complements and for pinning! I love my wreath!
This is sooo pretty! Thanks for sharing! I think it would be great for my new linky party starting this Saturday at 8pm called “Found & Foraged” Can’t wait to party with you at http://www.houseofhipsters.com
Thanks Kyla! I will head over to share on Saturday!
OK, I truly really super love this. I had high hopes this year of grabbing and preserving the magnolia leaves when they were still green and making all kinds of great Christmas decorations with them…and of course the brown took over before I had the chance. I would never have thought to break out the spray paint! And this looks so beautiful. Amazing job & thanks SO much for sharing at Found & Foraged!!
Laura, I have the same problem, the spray paint was the answer!
I am so happy you stopped by our linky party! I hope you will come by the Found & Foraged Linky Party next week too! (Saturday @ 8PM CST) It is so fun to party together:) http://www.thebigrevealblog.com!
Thank you Grace. I will try and stop by again!
Gorgeous! Gorgeous and gorgeous some more! Thank you so much for linking up at Found & Foraged! Pinned! Hope to see you again Saturday night at 8PM!
Thank you Kyla! I will try and head over on Saturday!
Beautiful does they stay for long time or not My mom have a lots plants there in Fla would love to make one I save this for do it when i go there is beautiful one
Such a great idea Chloe! I love magnolia leaves and the gold makes them so glamorous!
From one Floridian to another Chloe I know exactly what you are talking about. The Hubs just planted a Magnolia tree finally (he is the one with the green thumb) It’s about perhaps 10 inches tall, I have big hope for it. I always loved Magnolia leaves and like to use them in decoration. Your wreath is absolutely gorgeous and very inspiring. Absolutely stunning!
Thank you so much Edmee!
This is beautiful and seems easy enough. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you Pam!
What size straw wreath did you use? Have 2 Magonolia, one with very large leaves and one with the smaller leaves. (dwarf tree). Love your wreath.
Thank you Sara. My wreath was 18″ across. Good luck with your wreath.
So kind of you to respond. I will post outcome.
Fabulous job, and I love this color. I wish I had access to magnolia leaves. I love this post. Thank you!
Excellent art work Chloe.The procedure is easy to understand and all that i need is this tree,magnolia tree for the leaves.Am going to try it and post it when am done.