My Christmas Ode to the South

After decorating the house and getting it festive for Christmas, I tried my hand at a little project that has been stirring in my mind for awhile. I get email newsletters from this great decorating site and decided to try one of the wreaths featured on the website. This particular wreath is made from Magnolia tree leaves, which is probably one of the most definitive trees of the South. I love the way this wreath looks with the gingham check bow, and it just so happens that we have a Magnolia tree in our front yard. So I bought a styrofoam wreath form, plucked a bunch of leaves off our tree, and started pinning and gluing on leaves. This is the result:
I am so happy with it! It's hanging on a mirror in our front entry. I alternated the fronts and backs of the leaves to get the green/brown effect of the inspiration wreath. It's not quite as full as the original, but it's close enough. I went with a red gingham ribbon to make it look more Christmas-y. And, I told Jack I will only answer to Martha from now on.

I am hoping to do some more creating this coming week. I want to sew and make buckets and bake and hand stitch and ........ ahhhhh, there just aren't enough hours in the day this time of year, are there?