I haven’t had that much of a success keeping plants alive. Some live longer but eventually wilt so I guess I don’t really have a green thumb.
Growing my plant crush Monstera may seem to be too far of a stretch for a novice like me. So I opted for ornamental grass and ferns which seemed to be easier to care for. I bought some succulents and cacti, too. The good news is that the plants are thriving! Okay, I had 2 succulents who didn’t make it through.
To get some semblance of Monstera in my home, I made this felt wall hanging diy version of it instead and some other tropical leaves. This is the tutorial I wanted to share with you today.
MATERIALS:
Felt
Scissors
Fabric stiffener
Felt glue or hot glue
Pen
Cotton twine or any string
Bamboo stick
Painter’s tape
Tropical leaves pattern
Wall Hanging Diy
The first thing to do is to prepare tropical leaves templates or patterns and then trace them on felt.
I find that using a ball point pen is easier when tracing on felt fabric. And because the pen can still be evident even after cutting, just be aware which side would be your front side. Ideally your trace marks should appear on the back side of your felt cut out.
Cut out the felt leaves. You can have your leaves without the stem, they look so gorgeous even without it. But if you want the stems on, you can use Aleene’s Foam and Felt glue to stick it on. You can purchase this in craft stores or in Amazon. Another option is to stitch them on.
I highly recommend that you use a fabric stiffener on the felt and for this you can use Aleene’s Stiffen QuiK fabric stiffening spray. I applied 3-4 coats and that did the trick. Make sure you dry the felt for an hour in between coats before applying another coat.
This is how flimsy the felt cut out is without a stiffener.
And this is how the leaves look like with 3-4 coats of fabric stiffener.
Once all your tropical leaves felt cut outs are stiff then you can get the stick you’re going to use. I used a bamboo stick for this wall hanging but you can also use a dowel, twig or even a tension rod. That’s totally up to you. You can use any string for this diy. I opted for cotton twine and I used 4 balls of twine for this wall hanging.
The length of the wall hanging depends on how long you want it and where you intend to hang it. You may want to plan that out first before you cut the string.
And because you have to loop the string on the stick, you’ll need to cut the string double the length of how long you want it. Say, you want it 40 inches long then you’d have to cut your string 80 inches long. You need a number of that set size of string. So you can decide how wide you want the wall hanging to be and approximate how many cut strings you may need.
I suggest you hang your cut string instead of laying it down because it will tend to get tangled if you don’t.
Now, you will loop each piece of string on the stick. Fold the string into half and and loop the edge under the stick.
Then, place the other end into that loop and pull.
This is how it will look like when all the string is looped. But the other side looks better actually. So carefully flip to the other side.
This is how that other side looks like. Better, right? At this point, you need to space out the string and arrange them neatly.
When you’ve strung all the pieces, tie a knot at the edge close to the stick. You actually will end up having to arrange and space out the string several times. As you’re tying the knots, you may want the strings a bit apart. And when you’re all done with that step, you’ll place them closer together again.
But don’t be stressed, no need to rush. This part will take the longest because you also have to tie a knot at the end of each string to avoid fraying.
Tie the ends of the string and yes a lot of them have to be tied in a knot. So while you’re at this step of the project, you can binge on some Netflix. No judgment here, I mean sometimes I cant believe I’ve finished a season!
After knotting, hang the stick on the wall. You can easily see which sections need adjustment and arranging.
Use your fingers to kind of brush in between the strings to loosen them up. And then space them out neatly from the top where they’re looped on the stick.
Next, cut up strips and rectangular shapes of felt.
Then, grab your felt leaves and start to play around with the placement of the leaves on the string. Use painters tape to attach the felt leaf on the string. This way, you can easily change the arrangement as you see fit. Be careful as you tape down the felt, make sure your strings are not driven far apart. You want them to hang with a little space in between.
After taping down the leaves, carefully flip the wall hanging so that the backside is facing you. You will be gluing the leaves from this side.
Use hot glue to attach the felt strips or patch to the back side of the felt leaf. Place the strips where it cannot be seen from the front. So before you even put hot glue on it, make sure you know where the actual spot is. Be super careful on this step of the project because you know how painful that hot glue is when it hits your skin.
You don’t need to glue strips on every part of the leaf. Find spots that will support the leaf enough for it to lay flat on the string. After the hot glue process, you can now face it towards you and the unveiling begins! Yay! Gently remove the painter’s tape and now you have a…
Felt Tropical Leaves Wall Hanging DIY
This is a wall hanging DIY that is absolutely affordable and fun to make. Try it!