I am a big fan of the show “Fixer Upper” on HGTV.  Who isn’t, right?  I don’t think I have met a woman yet who isn’t.  🙂  Don’t get me wrong, I am sure there are plenty of people out there for whom that is not their style.  That is fine, to each their own.  I, however, happen to love the farmhouse style.  I have been drooling over the magnolia wreath on Magnolia Market’s website for a long time, but I could never bring myself to pay the $95 price tag though!  So I decided to do the next best thing, make my own and now you can too!

*There are links to products in this post that I use or are similar to products I use.  If you buy something from one of these links, I may make a small commission (with no additional cost to you) from the purchase.  I will not recommend anything that I would not buy myself.  Thank you for supporting my blog!

For this project you will need:

• Grapevine Wreath
• Magnolia Leaf Garland (I used 1½ garland)
• Acrylic Paint
• Paintbrushes
• Sea Sponge
• Hot Glue Gun and Glue Sticks

I searched up diy magnolia wreath online to see what there was out there.  Many sites had some great ideas but I wanted mine to have the color variations in it like the one at Magnolia Market.  I could not find any artificial magnolia leaves that had that look already and up here in the North, we are short on Magnolia trees.  🙂   So I decided I would have to paint some.  Now I did not relish the fact of painting each individual leaf but it was the price I had to pay for what I wanted.

I found some magnolia leaf garland at Hobby Lobby.  I bought 3 because I was not sure how many I would need.  It ended up that I only used about 1½ so I have enough left over for another wreath, not sure if I will paint that one though.  I cut the leaves off of the garland leaving as much stem as I could.  In retrospect, buying bunches of magnolia stems may have worked better to give me the shape of the Magnolia Market wreath with the leaves sticking up more.  I only had a little stem to glue down using the garland so it was harder the get the leaves to stick up.  I still love the look of it though.  Plus the garland was the cheaper option!

Armed with a picture of the Magnolia Market wreath , I had previously gone to Walmart to try to match some colors of paint.  I bought some different shades of acrylic paint in greens, browns and a mustard color.   I knew I would have to mix some of the paint to get the shades I wanted.  The painting was an easy job that I did not have to put my full concentration on so I also watched some TV while doing it.  Just putting a coat of paint on took away that waxy, glossy look of the artificial leaf.  That was perfect!

After doing some experimenting with the colors, I decided on three colors that I liked the best.

Using the 3 colors, I mixed them together and ended up with 6 shades of paint.  From left to right on the plates, the colors are approximately:

• 25% English Ivy & 75% Golden Sunset
• 100% English Ivy
•  50% English Ivy Green & 50% Golden Sunset
• 50-75% Golden Sunset & 25-50% Nutmeg Brown
• 100% Nutmeg Brown
• 25% Golden Sunset & 75% Nutmeg Brown

I decided that I would paint several leaves at a time of each color.  I switched to a larger paintbrush than the one in this picture, it helped to speed up the process.  

After getting a bunch painted and letting them dry, I went back to each leaf and sponged on an accent color.  This made the leaves look more realistic.  I tried to concentrate on applying the lighter or darker shade on the edges and the top of the leaf so the crevices would still be darker or lighter.  I thought this made it look like what a leaf would in nature.

Unfortunately, I did not get any pictures of the gluing process.  I simply applied a generous amount of hot glue onto the stem of the leaf and stuck it into the grapevine wreath.  If needed, I added more hot glue after I stuck it in.  Again looking at the picture as inspiration, I tried to vary the colors and sizes of the leaves when placing them.  The nice thing is that if you don’t like the placement of a leaf, it was easy to change.  Here is what it looked like after it was half done.

Here are some closeup shots of the finished wreath so you can see the individual leaves.

I love how the leaves turned out.  They all look different but coordinate together very well.  Here is the finished wreath on our DIY tobacco basket.

This is actually a tutorial I have been meaning to get done a while ago so I have already used it in some different places around the house.  🙂  I also used it on our St. Patrick’s Day mantel and here it is hanging on a door we have in our family room.

What do you think of our newest project, the DIY dough bowl in this picture?  Isn’t it amazing?!  I love it.

Like I mentioned in my last post, we have been busy with a room renovation so I will be sharing some tutorials and before/afters with you soon.  I hope you liked the wreath, let me know if you have any questions on it.  It was really easy to make, it did take a little while but like I said earlier, it is a mindless activity you can do while watching TV.  🙂  Hope you have a wonderful day!