Walking through a park or in the forest, most people don’t even suspect that right under their feet you can find a lot of material for all sorts of beautiful crafts, including topiary. Leaves of different trees: both green in spring and golden-red in autumn, and cones lie idle at every step. So we go out into nature to collect material for a new creation.
In order to make autumn topiary, a master class is simply necessary. Not everyone knows how to handle such natural material, especially if it is dry autumn leaves. You can see photos of the finished work below.
1st workshop on making topiary from autumn leaves
So, the first MK will be on working with fresh foliage, and the second will be on working with dry foliage.
Preparing material for work
- Newspapers, threads, napkins and PVA glue to create the base.
- Branch for the trunk.
- Twine for decorating the trunk and stand.
- Thermal gun.
- Maple autumn "fresh" leaves and artificial berries. They are needed to create a crown.
- Stand container and plaster, as well as artificial or natural grass.
- Satin ribbon for decoration.
Creating a base for a topiary crown
So, for the base you need to take a large number of newspapers and, placing one on top of the other, form a ball. To better secure the shape, you need to wrap the base with threads.
Now you need to take any napkins and tear them into small pieces. Apply PVA glue to the base and cover it with napkins. This is necessary so that the ball takes a more correct shape. It is best to stick several layers of napkins. The best option is to leave the ball to dry overnight.
Creating a trunk for an ornamental tree
For the trunk, you can take Chinese sticks and, connecting them together, wrap them with any suitable material. Or take any stick that is suitable in size. This MK uses a regular branch. It needs to be greased with PVA glue, wrapped with twine and allowed to dry thoroughly.
Assembling a topiary
In the ball, which we prepared in advance for the base of the topiary, you need to make a cross-shaped cut. Place a drop of hot glue on the top of the barrel and insert it into the base, pressing slightly. Also seal the edges of the cut with a heat gun.
Autumn tree decoration
Now begins the most interesting stage - decorating the topiary. To do this, take any nail and make a hole in the base. You need to drop a drop of hot glue into it and insert a leaf inside. Continue gluing the leaves further as you like. Additionally, you can glue artificial berries. Or whatever you prefer.
Making a stand
The last step remains - the stand. For it, you can take any suitable container that suits the shape and volume. This could be a small bucket, mug or flower pot. Next, you need to pour plaster into your container, and as soon as it begins to thicken, insert the topiary into it directly in the center. Now commit.
Once the solution has hardened a little, you can start working on the stand. Take artificial or real grass and lay it directly onto the cast. We decorate the pot itself with twine. To ensure that it lies tightly, glue it every 4 cm with a heat gun. Take a satin ribbon and tie it around the stand in the form of a bow. Or, for example, stick miniature artificial leaves on the pot. This is such a wonderful topiary made from maple leaves.
2nd MK - creating topiary from dry leaves
Dry leaves are, of course, much more difficult to work with than regular ones. But nothing is impossible in the world of creativity! From this tutorial, with the help of detailed instructions and photos, you will learn how to do it correctly.
Preparation of material
- Wire: one thick and two thin. And also corrugated paper: pink, green and golden.
- Container for the stand, plaster and potassium permanganate.
- Scotch tape, thread, newspapers and colored printer paper.
- Dried flowers and roses from leaves, prepared earlier.
- Thermal gun.
- Beads and wrapping paper for decoration.
Creating a trunk for topiary
Take three wires 25-30 cm long. Using corrugated paper, wrap the wire. In this example, paper is taken in three colors: pink, green and gold. Apply a drop of glue to the ends of each of the colored strips, then the paper will stick better.
Use tape to secure all three wires together, then wrap the pink and green wires around the gold wire.
Preparing the stand
In this tutorial, a translucent purple decanter is used as a stand. Therefore, gypsum mixed with potassium permanganate is used here as a filler. It turns out a very beautiful shade.
Before the mixture hardens, pour it into a carafe.
Now insert the finished wire barrel inside.
Creating the base and crown of the tree
Now it's time for the base for the topiary. Take newspapers and colored printing paper and make a ball out of them. To make the shape of the future crown more correct, wrap the figure with tape and then with thread.
Now you can start creating the crown. In addition to roses made from dry tree leaves, dried flowers are also used here. Roses from leaves and flowers must be prepared in advance from fresh materials, since dry ones will break and nothing will come of it. Most often, such flowers are made from maple leaves.
Let's continue decorating the topiary. Using a heat gun, glue dried flowers and leaf roses to the base. You can also use wrapping paper balls.
Cover the entire base and attach a square of wrapping paper in the place where it will be attached to the trunk. Next, make a small hole and drop some hot glue inside. Place the ball on the topiary trunk and press gently.
The finishing touches remain. Decorate the crown with small beads, and make a pattern of small roses on the decanter. That's it, the topiary made from dry leaves and flowers is ready!
Of course, the natural materials from which decorative trees can be made are not limited to leaves and flowers. These could be nuts, acorns, or, for example, cones. Below are some works made from leaves and cones.
The time has come for bright red-yellow autumn leaves, partially preserved on tree branches, partially scattered on the sidewalks of streets and parks. Probably every second adult, while still a child, collected leaves of beautiful shapes and colors, and then put them in books to dry. It’s just that few people know what to do with a wonderful collection of autumn leaves. Some people paste them into a special album, while others create beautiful and graceful topiaries. And how this is done, our master class on creating topiary from dried autumn leaves will tell and show you with detailed photos throughout the article.
We are studying a master class on creating topiary from autumn leaves
To make topiary from dry tree leaves you will need:
- Dry leaves of trees of different colors and shapes, for example, maple
- Clay or ceramic flower pot
- Two identical foam balls
- Wooden stick for barrel
- Bronze or gold spray paint
- Thermal glue gun
- Dried sprigs of rowan berries
- Long, curved blades of grass, such as reeds
- Ceramic figurines of various shapes or shells for decoration
The foam ball is glued to the bottom of the flower pot using a hot glue gun.
After the glue has dried, a hole is carefully made in the ball with scissors, into which a wooden stick is placed under the barrel. As a trunk, you can use, for example, sushi chopsticks, wooden kebab skewers or a beautiful curved tree branch. Then the surface of the pot, the foam ball-base and the stick-trunk are covered with bronze or gold spray paint. Give the product some time to dry.
Making a crown and assembling an autumn topiary
In the second foam ball, just like in the first, a small hole is made using scissors. Using this hole, the ball is threaded onto a stick-trunk, and then carefully coated with thermal glue. This ball will be the basis for a crown of maple topiary.
Dry tree leaves are attached to the legs on a foam base in dense, even rows.
If there are no legs or they are quite fragile, then the leaves are glued with a glue gun. There is no need to overdo it with glue, a small drop will completely hold the leaf, excess glue will only spoil the entire aesthetic appearance of the crown of the tree of happiness.
Dry branches of rowan berries and blades of reed grass are attached in the same way. Draw in your head an approximate diagram for attaching the topiary parts; this will help you ultimately get a thoughtful and well-designed herbarium composition.
Now you can start decorating the pot. To do this, attach a small number of leaves and one or two small berry sprigs to the lower base ball. Ceramic figurines in the form of insects or a shell resembling a snail are attached to the leaves using thermal glue. In addition, the pot can be tied with a satin ribbon or wrapped in a brightly colored floral net.
To naturally aromatize the room, you can pour some natural coffee beans or aromatic herbs, such as lavender or lemon balm, into the autumn topiary pot.
Exquisite topiary made from maple leaves is ready!
A topiary made from dry leaves does not necessarily have an autumn theme, but can also be a wonderful New Year's decoration.
Preparing New Year's topiary from leaves and cones
To make a New Year's topiary from leaves and cones you will need:
- Heavy flower pot, such as clay
- 2 wooden sticks, one slightly thicker than the other
- Polyurethane foam container
- Balloon
- Dry tree leaves
- Cones
- Thermal glue gun
- Several walnuts, replicas of small apples, beads, thin organza ribbon, narrow satin ribbon for decoration
- Spray paint in gold or silver color
A heavy flower pot is filled halfway with polyurethane foam, and two wooden sticks are placed in the center under the trunk.
Polyurethane foam from the same container is poured into the balloon until it is given the required size. This will be the basis for the topiary crown. The ball and pot are removed for a day until the polyurethane foam has completely dried.
After the foam has dried, the rubber of the balloon is torn off from the round base under the crown. A small hole is made in the base, with which it is strung onto sticks.
The clay pot and sticks under the barrel are painted with golden spray paint.
After the paint has completely dried, cones are glued onto the base ball using a glue gun with small gaps between them. Tree leaves are glued into these spaces. Cones, tree leaves and walnuts for decoration are pre-painted with spray paint of different colors, for example, nuts and cones in the golden color of the pot, and leaves in a more saturated bronze color.
Let's start decorating the topiary with a New Year's mood. To do this, a thicker trunk is wrapped with gold pearl beads from top to bottom, spreading along the base of polyurethane foam in a pot, the edges of which are fixed with thermal glue. The second trunk is wrapped with a narrow gold-colored satin ribbon, the edges are also fixed with glue. Walnuts and artificial red apples are glued to the crown in several places. One or two apples can be glued to the base of the pot. By the way, an organza ribbon tied into a delicate bow is also attached there.
To add aroma to the New Year's tree of happiness, you can drop a couple of drops of essential citrus and pine oils on it.
Video selection on the topic of the article
In this article we told you how to make topiary from cones and dry tree leaves on two different themes with your own hands. Below, after the text, there are several videos on making autumn topiaries, which we offer for viewing. Thank you for your attention!
Topiary is loved by many needlewomen. Miniature trees of happiness are made from different materials. They can be made in various techniques and with any design. One such product is an autumn leaf topiary. It can be made using decorative elements on the theme of autumn or from natural materials.
All trees of happiness consist of a trunk, crown and base. By decorating every detail and combining it into one product, you can get a beautiful and bright decor that will lift your spirits and be suitable as a gift. To create an autumn topiary with your own hands you will need the following materials:
Other base materials
If for some reason it is not possible to purchase a foam base, then you can make it yourself. Construction foam can be used as a base. To do this, squeeze out a sufficient amount of foam, and then cut it with a knife, giving it the shape of a ball.
Another option, which is the cheapest, is plain paper wrapped in yarn. It needs to be crumpled into a ball and secured with threads. If this option seems too frivolous, then the ball can be made from ordinary foam. To do this, you need to take several pieces of it, glue them together, and then cut the shape into a ball. This way you can make a ball of the desired diameter without spending a lot of money on it.
Manufacturing process
The process itself is not particularly complicated, so you can involve children in it. Making a topiary from leaves with your own hands step by step:
Tip: to make the tree look neat, the leaves can be cut in half. Then they will not protrude beyond other elements, and the whole tree will look neat.
Crown formation should begin with the largest elements. These can be artificial fruits or balls made from sisal. Spread decorative elements with glue and attach to the base. . It’s better to start decorating from the top of the head:
- Small parts, such as rowan branches or artificial grapes, must first be divided into fragments. It's best to do this with wire cutters.
- Fill the voids with maple leaves and decorative branches. At this stage, the main task is to fill the crown of the tree so that the base is not visible.
- Once the crown is formed, you can begin decorating the lower part of the composition. Here you can use leaves and natural moss, which must be glued with hot glue.
Topiary of autumn roses
In addition to various decorative elements, for such a product you can use maple leaves folded in the shape of roses.
To make these roses you will need yellowed maple leaves. Making such an element with your own hands is not very difficult; it is enough to understand the principle of their manufacture. To work you will need:
- scissors;
- threads;
- Maple leaves.
To create the center of the rose, you need to take the darkest leaf and fold it in half. Then you need to twist it into a tube. You will get the middle of the rose. To prevent this part from unwinding, you need to secure the element with a thread that does not need to be cut.
The next leaf is used to create a rose petal. It needs to be bent in half, just like the previous one, and wrapped around the previous element. The right and left edges of the sheet must be folded inward.
We place subsequent leaves around the already collected ones. Each new sheet needs to be wrapped around the previous ones to create new rows.
The next row of leaves should be laid more freely than the previous one. When making such a rose, the leaves must be laid at the same height, otherwise the shape will not work. When all the leaves are laid, the thread must be secured to the stem and cut. It will be good to go over the thread with thermal glue, then it will definitely not come undone.
To assemble a topiary from maple leaves with your own hands, you need to prepare several of these elements. They will need to be glued to the base first. Then, various natural materials need to be glued over the entire surface of the base. This could be a rowan tree, a fragment of pine branches or small cones. All parts are attached in such a way that there are no voids. The crown of the tree should have a round shape, so the parts need to be placed carefully.
Such a topiary will not last long, but it will have time to cheer up its owner or decorate the room on a rainy autumn day.
Tree of happiness for teachers
Every year, when sending their child to school, many parents think about what to give to the teacher in order to make the gift stand out from the crowd of gifts. An excellent option could be a tree of happiness, decorated using school attributes. For decoration you will need colored pencils, figures in the form of beeches and numbers and other school decorative elements.
The crown of such a tree is made according to the same principle as other similar products. You need to first glue the large elements, and then decorate the remaining space with smaller and airier details.
The peculiarity of this tree is in its lower part. The pot will be decorated with colored pencils and decorative ribbon in a school theme. For such decor, you need to choose a container that has straight sides, without a slope. This is necessary so that the pencils can press tightly to the surface. They need to cover the entire perimeter of the pot. Finally, the pot of colored pencils can be wrapped with colored ribbon.
Colored letters of different diameters will look good on the tree crown. The bottom of the topiary needs to be decorated with sisal and glued several maple leaves.
A tree of happiness made from maple leaves is a wonderful way to decorate a room. during the autumn period. It’s not that difficult to make, and the bright colors of such decor will definitely bring positive emotions to everyone around you.
Topiary is a decorative composition reminiscent of a growing tree, which is used to decorate any interior. This artificially created sculpture is also called the “Tree of Happiness” or “European Tree”. The first topiaries were gardens made from originally trimmed shrubs, which prompted designers to make artificial trees with their own hands.
Autumn is rich in all kinds of natural materials, using which it is so easy to embody the most daring creative ideas. By using your imagination, you can create unique autumn crafts that will delight and delight the eye. Autumn crafts made from leaves always bring the aroma of autumn into the house, and autumn topiary will look original and bright. And if you've ever dreamed of trying to create a topiary, now is the time.
Autumn topiary can be made from leaves, chestnuts, acorns, rowan branches, fruits, autumn flowers and other materials at your discretion. Often such a decorative tree has a round shape, but there are also cone-shaped or bouquet-shaped topiaries. The main element is the crown, which can be decorated with anything: decorative ribbons or bows, acorns, fruits or roses made from autumn leaves. This craft will be a great decor for your home or a decoration for the kindergarten for the autumn holiday.
To make your own autumn topiary, you will need:
- any autumn material: leaves, chestnuts, flowers, berries, branches;
- wooden stick for the trunk or thick wire;
- glue;
- foam ball;
- base container: empty flowerpot or flower pot;
- sand, stones, plaster, alabaster.
How to make autumn topiary with your own hands: step-by-step diagram
1. Pour a base into a flower pot to stabilize the autumn tree: sand, stones or other material. Pack tightly so that the topiary does not turn over in the future.
2. Then you should stick a wooden stick - the rod of a decorative tree - into the sand. It should be inserted until the stick rests on the bottom of the pot. Even crooked sticks are suitable for autumn topiary, because this will add even more uniqueness to your craft.
3. Place a foam ball on the top of the stick. And then it’s up to your imagination. Attach leaves, flowers, twigs and even berries to the crown with hot glue, pins or wire. If there is no natural material for crafts, autumn flowers and leaves can be made from paper or fabric. Don't forget about chestnuts, nuts, and acorns.
4. If desired, decorate the flower pot, stand and the autumn topiary rod itself. Choose items in fall colors.
Autumn is not only a time of slow fading of nature, but also a very beautiful time of year. Bright colored leaves are an excellent material for. In order to preserve their beauty at least for a short time, we suggest creating an interesting and very unusual topiary craft from them. Our step-by-step master class will tell you how to make topiary from tree leaves with your own hands.
Maple leaf topiary
Let's prepare everything necessary to create our topiary:
- maple leaves, artificial or collected from trees;
- glue gun;
- small pot - plastic or clay;
- two polystyrene or foam balls;
- glitter;
- branch-trunk;
- paints.
Let's get creative:
- Let's select the number of leaves required for our tree. You can take artificial leaves made of plastic or fabric, or you can collect leaves from under the trees. But since dry leaves are very fragile, they should first be strengthened - dipped in molten paraffin and allowed to dry. The leaves can be covered with a thin layer of glitter on top.
- Now let's prepare the base on which the leaves will be attached. To do this, we need a medium-sized ball of polystyrene or foam rubber, which must be strung on a twig.
- Place half of the second ball on the same branch from below. This must be done in order to securely secure the topiary in the pot.
- We decorate the topiary with leaves using a glue gun. It is more convenient to start gluing the leaves from the bottom up, slightly layering them on top of each other.
- Place the topiary in the pot.
- We decorate the pot with artificial grass and get this wonderful topiary made from tree leaves, created with our own hands.
DIY topiary from bush leaves
In order to decorate a garden or personal plot with topiary, we will need a polystyrene or polystyrene ball, a small stick (40-50 cm), moss, a bucket and glue in a can and small leaves.