Some early cold almost robbed me of fall this year. We had snow before the leaves fell.
But I was able to rescue a few this season to create my Thanksgiving centerpiece: a bouquet of fall leaf roses.
It’s an easy project. I like to hunt for colorful leaves, a mix of small and large ones that haven’t become brittle. I start with a small one, fold down the leaf points to the center, then roll it up, stopping at the leaf center to place a switch or some sort of stick. I continue rolling with progressively larger leaves. Once I have the rose I’m happy with, I bind the base of the rose and the stem with florists tape. I then finish the rose with a matte or satin finishing spray to keep the color and to keep them from crumbling.
It takes between six and 12 leaves to make a rose. Sisters Know Best has a nice step-by-step and there are many others. You don’t need to add a switch, but I find the stems to be too flimsy and not long enough for a vase.
In the bouquets pictured, there are two types, tight roses and ones that have opened up. In the open ones, I use one or two colorful leaves to fold away from the center bud. These are extremely fragile. The tight roses pack nicely for next season. I don’t expect the open roses will pack easily if at all.
I also like to fill the bouquets in with a bunch of single leaves, mostly types of oak. This adds some depth to the bouquets, like a fall version of baby’s breath.
Virtual Farmgirl 