Colorful Crocheted Leaf Branch

Ahh, the final branch craft!  Are you ready for us to be done with branches?  Are you craving more?  Well, I may or may not have more ideas up my sleeves.  But {for now} this is the last of the branch mini-series.

You'll need:

A branch that you like
Yarn (this project is a great scrapbuster!) and a crochet hook
How to crochet leaves tutorial
Floral wire
Hot glue (optional)

Much like the rest of our branch crafts, this project is practically free.  You really shouldn't have to buy much of anything to accomplish it.  If you don't already have floral wire in your craft supplies, please note that you can purchase it at the Dollar Tree.  Yep.  The Dollar Tree!

{FYI} When I came up with the idea for this branch, I thought I'd use some of Sharon's fabric stiffener to create flat and stiff crocheted leaves.  I tried it using the stiffener on one completed leaf, and found the leaf became far too heavy to be supported by the branches.  The natural softness and looseness of the yarn proved to be better in this case, as the leaves look more "alive" with their little waves and slight curling.  Live and learn!

First of all, you'll want to make a bunch of crocheted leaves.  I made a tutorial on how to make simple leaves a few months ago--you can find it here.

It's a pretty simple and straightforward process.  It has been a good way to use up the heaps of yarn scraps leftover from other projects.  I just can't bear to throw any of it away and lookie here, it paid off!

Alrighty.  Once you have an assortment of leaves, cut wire to a desired length.  My pieces were about 8" but it's totally up to you.

Run the wire through the center of the leaf, creating a vein-like appearance.  If your leaves are slipping around on the floral wire, you can secure the ends with a dot of hot glue to hold them in place.  Stiffer yarns like wool probably won't require hot glue, but slick acrylic yarns will probably necessitate some stabilization.

 

Once the leaves are all wired up, then you can attach them to the branch as you see fit. 

Sharon showed some fun techniques for wiring leaves onto branches on her Fabric Leaf Tree post.  You may want to check those out.  I opted for just wrapping the wire around the branches in a long swirl (the leaves are a little heavy for some of the weaker branches, so in my case the branches needed wrapped with the wire to offer some support).

My husband says the branches around the T.V. make us look like we have rabbit ears.  He says I'm making his Google T.V. look low-tech.  I think that it's an awkward wall to decorate and I've finally found a way to decorate without putting random objects on the walls.  What do you think?  Does it just look like rabbit ears? 

And on that subject, if you have rabbit ears on your tele, you may want to spice them up with some leaves!