Legends
of the

Fall

I could just stare at this picture forever or I could hit the Buy It Now button. Then these gorgeous German leaves could be in my hands, not before Christmas but at least by New Year's Eve, giving me enough time to trim a hat to celebrate the arrival of 2007. At $7.50 these leaves - which look unlike anything I've ever seen in my real life - are a steal. You couldn't do better at an antique store. That said, I've tried making my millinery flowers - using old panty house, floral wiring, stamens and instructions from a 1950s-era dressmaking book. I cut a square of pantyhose (generally unused) on the bias, twist a bit of the wire into a petal shape, stretch the fabric over the wire, anchor the fabric to the stem with a twist of green floral tape. I gather three 'petals' together, plop a few stamens (the kind from Michaels works fine - I embellish mine with a little nail polish) in the middle. Tighten more tape around the petal trio. Voila! I've got a flower. A few of these hand-crafted flowers make a pretty corsage when you hot glue a pin on the back.