In autumn, nature offers lots of materials to decorate the house or to make something creative with children. Not only chestnuts, acorns and colorful leaves can be used for this. You can also realize unexpected, varied ideas with corn on the cob. Alternatively, you can simply get dried corn leaves. These are easy to edit and cut with scissors like paper. Crafting with corn cobs and corn leaves is fun for young and old!
Decorate vases and baskets with corn cobs
Autumn flowers are colorful, are pleasing to the eye and can be beautifully combined with the intense color of the corn cobs. You can quickly cover a vase or terracotta pot with corn cobs. This makes safflower, asters, sunflowers and dahlias stand out even better!
Create autumnal lanterns
Lanterns are always a stylish addition to any table decoration and can always be wonderfully decorated seasonally. This time the corn is not used as a filler. The corn cobs are simply tied around the lantern with raffia or another string. Always make sure that the flame of the candle does not come close to the dried corn leaves. It's best to use taller lanterns or battery-operated candles for extra security.
Decoration for the garden
Most summer plants have already faded, but that doesn't mean your pots should sit empty. But the star of this arrangement is a simple solar garden light that sits between the corn cobs. It is charged by the sun during the day and switches on automatically at night.
Beautiful autumn garlands
The garlands can be draped indoors and outdoors. Insert an eyebolt through the corn cob from below. Then alternately thread corn cobs and corn leaf pennants onto a sturdy string.
Spice up the tea light holder
Wrap several glass tea light holders in corn leaves. This will make your autumn table decorations even more atmospheric! First, soak the dry corn leaves in a bowl filled with water for a few minutes. This makes them easier to bend. Then cut the moistened corn leaves to the desired size. They are then tied around the tea light holder with raffia ribbon or thin satin ribbon. A spotted guinea fowl feather (from the craft supply) would be a beautiful addition.
Make flowers out of corn leaves
Corn leaves create wonderful flowers that could even be tied together to form a bouquet. But this project is ideal for beginners: napkin rings with autumn flair. This is how it works:
Cut a spiral freehand from a damp corn leaf so that it has at least four rings. Loosely roll up the spiral into a rose, working from the outside in. Allow to dry. Use hot glue to glue a circle to the base and then attach it to the ring.
Make an autumn door wreath
This beautiful door wreath looks like a sun that wants to delight us with its warm rays even in autumn! The dry corn leaves have been pulled outwards and hang directly over the edge of the blank. So easy to replicate, right? You simply need around 30 corn cobs with leaves (approx. 10 - 15 cm long), a straw wreath (30 ø), a hot glue gun and at least 15 glue sticks.
If you want a modern twist on traditional fall decorations, then this idea would be perfect for you. Instead of making a round door wreath, try a square one. You can use Styrofoam as the basis for the door wreath.
Materials required:
- 90 x 30 x 2 cm Styrofoam board or floral foam
- Paint brush
- corn yellow acrylic paint
- brown paper wire
- 24 small ears of corn
- spray bottle filled with water
- black marker
- Styrofoam knife or cutter
- Raffiabast
- Hot glue gun and glue sticks
- Tape measure or ruler
Using the tape measure and the black marker, draw a 30 cm x 30 cm square on the Styrofoam plate. There is a second 20 cm x 20 cm square in the middle. Cut along the lines with the cutter and paint the finished frame with a brush and corn-colored acrylic paint. Allow to dry.
Wrap the entire wreath criss-cross several times with raffia. Glue two ears of corn to each corner, then add the rest until you are happy with the result. Moisten the corn leaves with the spray bottle. Then unravel each individual leaf to add fullness to the wreath. Let the leaves dry like this. Using a long piece of paper wire, the finished fall wreath is hung on the front door, over a mirror or in the hallway.
Funny figures made from corn cobs
Funny figures can be made with children from corn cobs. The corn cobs are decorated with other natural materials such as pumpkin and sunflower seeds, acorns, acorn caps, pine needles, pine cones, beans, rose hips, etc. A popular project is men, who are stylishly dressed with napkins, bandana scarves or felt. Other great ideas would be domestic and forest animal figures such as squirrels, rabbits, foxes, hedgehogs, chickens, dogs, pigs, cats, etc. You can also use dried corn cobs without grains for this.
Most of the time, fresh whole corn cobs are used because they are easier to cut with a knife or pierce with an awl. The individual elements can be connected to each other using wire, nails or toothpicks. Leave the decorating to the children. Sunflower seeds form the beaks of chickens, pumpkin seeds are perfect for ears. Let your imagination run wild!
Make corn leaf dolls with children
You can make pretty dolls from dried corn leaves in just a few minutes. The idea comes from Eastern Europe and most often the characters represent peasant women and children. Others associate it with the festival of Lughnasadh, Lammas or Lughasa, which was mentioned in some of the earliest Irish literary works and has pagan origins. The ancient Celts celebrated the beginning of the harvest season at the beginning of August and this honored the Celtic sun god. Back then, grain dolls were thrown as a thank you for nature's bounty.
This is needed:
- dry corn leaves
- Scissors
- Yarn or raffia
- spray bottle
- Hand towel
- thin twine in pieces approx. 35-40 cm long
- a piece of rubbish bandage, 30-40 cm long
First, the leaves are prepared. Evenly moistened with water and left 5-10 cm under a towel. After that, they are smoothed with slopes. They should be pliable and not too wet. Absorb excess water with a paper towel. Make sure that the corn leaves dry out very quickly and it is best to keep them covered while working.
Step 1. Head and body
Take 4 or 6 already prepared corn leaves (always an even number) into a bundle. Then it is tied off with cotton thread about 2 centimeters from the end. Separate the leaves into equal parts (2 and 2, or 3 and 3) and pull them down so that they cover the thread. Tie off again about 2 cm from the head end. This is how the head is created.
Step 2. Arms and hands
For the arms, fold a piece of leaf and position it under the neck knot between the leaves. Cut to the desired length and tie off about 1 cm from each end of the arm with raffia. That gives hands.
Step 3. Waist and legs
Tie waist. For female pupa, cut the leaves to an even length. For male doll, separate leaves into equal parts and tie with raffia at knees and ankles. Cut off excess.
If you want to add extra volume to the skirt, you could do the following. The principle is like the head. First, the arms should be pulled up and tied. Hold the doll in one hand and use the other to stack the leaves evenly from all sides. There may be two or three layers. It is then tied again at the waist with a string. The doll's head and arms are hidden in leaves. Now pull each individual leaf down and cut it to the desired length. Wrap in damp bin bandages and allow to dry completely for several hours.
