painted leaf garland

One of the woes of having a tiny apartment is not having room for pumpkins in the fall.
I live vicariously through my mom when we visit - as soon as its September, mom has out all of her pumpkin accouterments. And believe me, there are several.
I did want to put some autumn goodness in our space, so I started brainstorming. Whatever I did needed to be something noticeable but not over the top, not take up a lot of space, and most importantly be cheap.
This definitely met all three requirements.

I collected the leaves, so that part was free. I already had the cord from jewelry making. All I had to buy was the paint pen, making the grand total of this project 4.50.

You can get jewelry cord here and a white paint pen here for chump change.

I collected the leaves outside one of the building on campus - so yeah, I was that girl. All I did then was doodle on them with the paint pen, tie them to the cord, and hang it up.

I plan on making many more of these as the leaves continue to fall. You can string up a bunch together for a more dramatic look, add beads and ribbons; whatever you want, really. You could write on the leaves rather than doodle... The possibilities are pretty much endless.