Magnolia Leaf Place Cards

The tutorial for these magnolia leaf place cards contains affiliate links.

When I toured my new house this fall prior to buying it, I was delighted to discover a magnolia tree in the side yard.  It may sound silly but I love the huge leaves!  They’re perfect for garlands and wreaths and my only option up until now had been to pilfer a few from my neighbor’s tree.  But there are only so many leaves you can acceptably pluck from a tree you don’t own, right?  Hence the excitement over owning my very own magnolia tree … which is actually more like a huge magnolia bush with leaves from top to bottom.  A total score!  I’ve already used the leaves for a centerpiece and during the holiday season I created these colorful magnolia leaf place cards!  The bright tips and the silver foil names made them a hit at our holiday table!

I had my son gather some leaves from the magnolia tree so I ended up with an assortment of large and small leaves but the bigger, the better for this craft.  You want to have plenty of room for names.

I used a fine sanding sponge to lightly sand the tops of the leaves so the paint and adhesive foil would adhere a bit better.  I don’t think this step is absolutely necessary but it doesn’t hurt.

I love color and lots of it so I chose four different colors of DecoArt craft paint.  A tip: disposable cupcake wrappers are great for holding craft paint and they make clean up so easy.

I used a foam brush to paint the ends of the leaves then let them dry completely.  One coat was enough for most of the leaves but a few of the leaves needed a little touch up with a second coat.  You could also try dipping the leaves in the paint but brushing it on seemed a bit easier and tidier.  When adding the color, be sure to leave enough room on each leaf to add names.

Using your Cricut {I used the Cricut Maker but any Cricut model will work great for this job} and silver adhesive foil, cut the names for each guest and use transfer paper to apply the names to the leaves.  Make sure you don’t stick the transfer paper to the painted area or the paint will pull off.

All that’s left to do is set the table with these colorful color blocked magnolia leaf place cards …

… and welcome the guests!

And stay tuned because this won’t be the end of the magnolia crafts around here {wink}.