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How To Preserve Magnolia Leaves For Holiday Decorating

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See how easy it is to preserve fresh magnolia leaves and use them in your Holiday Decorating.

I’m thrilled to be sharing this gorgeous magnolia leaf wall hanging.

I’ve been crafting for way longer than I care to admit and this may totally be one of my favorite crafts ever!

I’ll not only show you a step-by-step tutorial on how to dry the magnolia leaves, but also how to make a stunning DIY magnolia wreath. 

close up of magnolia leaf wreath diy

Last week was the start of the Deck the Home DIY Challenges and it was all about Door Decor. 

You can see the little red truck wreath I made here.

This week the challenge is 2-Hour Holiday Decor Projects. 

Be sure to read all the way to the end of this post and click the link so you can check out the rest of the amazing holiday projects. 

This page contains affiliate links at no extra cost to you. Please see my full disclosure here.

preserved magnolia leaves with sugared fruit

The funny thing is, this project totally happened by accident. Don’t you love when that happens?

I was at Trader Joe’s checking out the flowers for my Thanksgiving Tablescape when I spotted these gorgeous fresh magnolia leaves:

magnolia leaves Trader Joe's

Aren’t they beautiful? They are huge and a large bunch was only $4.99. I scooped up two bunches without even knowing what I was going to do with them.

My mind was scrambling with ideas, but I knew I wanted to preserve them so they could be enjoyed for more than one Holiday season.

Let me show you the easy way to preserve magnolia leaves.

How To Preserve Magnolia Leaves

Instructions:

Step 1.

Use the gardening shears to snip all the leaves off the stems.

magnolia leaves being cut

Step 2.

Use the foam brush to apply mod podge to each magnolia leaf. 

mod podge

You do need to add the Mod Podge to both the front and back of the leaves.

This is time consuming, but so worth it for the end result!

 
magnolia leaves with mod podge

Step 3.

Allow the leaves to dry overnight.

Step 4.

Spray the entire wreath, front and back with 2 coats of Mod Podge Clear Acrylic Sealer.

Allow to dry and you are ready to use them in your holiday decorating.

mod podge on magnolia leaves

Now I will show you how to make an oversized holiday wall hanging.

How To Make A Holiday Wall Hanging With Magnolia Leaves

Supplies

sugared fruit

You can usually find open frames at the thrift store for just a few dollars.

This is the frame I started with:

thrift store frame

Step 1.

If you have pine trees available, snip some stems and hot glue them to the frame.

If not, you can leave them out. I just felt it gave extra texture and more of that holiday feel.

These are not preserved, but can be removed after the holidays.

pine stems on thrift store frame

Step 2.

Begin hot gluing the magnolia leaves to the frame. I started in each corner with 4-5 leaves.

magnolia leaves on frame

Continue adding leaves until the wreath is full. I used two full bunches which is about 60 leaves.

magnolia leaves on frame base

Step 4.

Hot glue three sugared fruits to each corner of the wreath.

I opted to paint the red fruits with silver metallic paint, as it goes with my holiday color scheme.

silver paint on sugared fruit

fruit on wreath

I love to use sugared fruit in holiday decorating.

You may also want to check out the sugared fruit wreath I made last year.

close up of sugared fruit

This is such an inexpensive project, especially if you are lucky enough to have a magnolia leaf tree.

Another option for preserving the leaves is to use glycerin.

This wall hanging is such a statement piece and can be used in so many different ways.

Here I show it on an old window:

magnolia leaves wall hanging on window

I hope you enjoyed this post. If so, please PIN the below image:

magnolia leaf wall hanging

Below is the link to this month’s 2-Hour Decor Challenge projects.

See More Holiday 2-Hour Decor Projects

magnolia leaves with mod podge

How To Preserve Magnolia Leaves For Holiday Decorating

Yield: 1 Bunch
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Active Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Estimated Cost: $5

Magnolia leaves are a beautiful hardy leaf that work great in holiday decorating. You can use them in garlands, wreaths and so much more. See how to preserve them to use for the holiday season quickly and easily.

Materials

  • Mod Podge Satin
  • Foam Brushes
  • Gardening Shears

Tools

  • Gardening Shears

Instructions

  1. Use the gardening shears to snip all the leaves off the stems.
  2. Use the foam brush to apply mod podge to each magnolia leaf.  
  3. You do need to add the Mod Podge to both the front and back of the leaves.
  4. This is time consuming, but so worth it for the end result!
  5. Allow the leaves to dry overnight.
  6. Spray the entire wreath, front and back, with 2 coats of Mod Podge Clear Acrylic Sealer.
  7. Allow to dry and you are ready to use them in your holiday decorating. 

Did you make this project?

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Pinterest

Google Web Story: How to Preserve Magnolia Leaves

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Meggie

Monday 20th of December 2021

I was so excited when my mod podge arrived so I could preserve the magnolia leaves I collected and take them to our cabin in northern Michigan to decorate for the holidays. I followed the directions exactly but when I opened the bag upon arrival the leaves were brown and crispy. They looked awful and sadly I couldn’t use them. Any idea why this happened?

ourcraftymom

Sunday 26th of December 2021

I'm so sorry to hear that. Mine had a little browning around the sides but not much. Did you spray them with a clear sealer after the mod podge dried? The only thing I can think of is maybe you didn't add enough mod podge. I did use a solid 2-3 coats on each and every leaf front and back. The wreath I made lasted through the holiday season and I was still able to reuse some of the leaves in a garland. I wish you had better results.

Cindy Mcleod

Tuesday 19th of October 2021

I did a few leaves and they were green. They have begun turning brown-is that because i didn't spray the acrylic spray yet?

ourcraftymom

Wednesday 20th of October 2021

Did you cover both sides with a couple of layers of mod podge? I would definitely recommend spraying the sealant. I hope this helps.

Cheri Mello

Sunday 17th of January 2021

AWESOME👍🏼❗️♥️♥️I WILL keep my EYE open For Fresh Ones TOO 👍🏼G-d♥️Bless

Michelle

Wednesday 18th of November 2020

Will mod podge work on the leaves if you leave them on the stems?

ourcraftymom

Wednesday 18th of November 2020

I have never tried them with the stems on, so I don't want to answer. I would test one and give it a few days to see how it looks. I would imagine it would work. Definitely give the leaves a few good coats front and back.

Roxanne

Friday 23rd of October 2020

I just spend a small fortune on the most beautiful bunches of magnolia leaves I want to preserve for holiday decorating. How long did the Mod Podge leaves hold up? I've tried glycerin before and it didn't work well for me.

ourcraftymom

Tuesday 26th of January 2021

Hi Roxanne,

It depends on where you are placing them. but mine lasted several weeks. Also, I was able to reuse quite a few of them in a winter garland after. They were very dry and helped up well.

Kim

Friday 22nd of January 2021

@Roxanne, I would like to know the answer to this as well! Thanks for asking!

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