Felt Leaf Garland for the Sukkah

When we were searching for a home to buy back in 2005 finding one with a patio where we could put up a sukkah was one of our key requirements (along with a dining room large enough to host a seder). We’ve put up a sukkah here every fall, two years ago transitioning from a wooden frame to an aluminum pipe frame.

Here is 2006, 2007, 2008

2009 and 2010. We ordered our sukkah kit here.

Finding sophisticated decorations for a sukkah is challenging. I maintain my long-held belief that Martha Stewart Living should do a sukkah and show us how it’s done, but until then I am going to make an effort to craft something fresh every year in the hopes that eventually we will have the classiest sukkah in Wellesley (granted, we have one of the only sukkahs in Wellesley).

I started with a garland to drape over one interior wall. To make it, I drew an oak leaf freehand onto freezer paper and cut it out. Here is my template in case you’d like to make a garland, too.

I ironed it onto a selection of felt in fall colors and cut out a total of 24 felt leaves.

At the bottom of each leaf I use a craft blade to make a small slit, either vertically or horizontally, through which I inserted the tip of a second leaf. I put a dab of craft glue on the leaf tip and pressed it down to hold it in place.

After connecting all the leaves this way, I took a walk with the baby to collect acorn caps. A dab of E6000 worked to hold a felted wool ball in each cap.

I cut a slit in the last leaves through which I threaded a length of jute twine. Then I used E6000 to glue to acorns on each end where the twine meets the leaf.

Once our sukkah is built I will show how it looks inside.