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Fall is all about decorating and preparing for the holidays. The leaves, the colors, the tastes; they all lend to gatherings, and sharing food and drinks with friends and family. As much as I like to decorate, I won’t lie, I tend to do more fall DIY projects because…well, it’s cold! Don’t get me wrong, I’m out enjoying the leaves and smells of the season every chance I can get, but this project is a fun and festive craft that you can make on those chilly days you’d rather enjoy from indoors.
There’s nothing more beautiful than the fallen leaves. Why not preserve some of that beauty? So, have some fun and create something that all your holiday guests will be envious of!
This DIY project was adapted from:
http://cassiestephens.blogspot.com/2012/03/leaf-relief.html
What You Will Need:
- Leaves, go outside and gather your favorites!
- Aluminum Foil
- Spray Adhesive
- Inexpensive Matte Black (or your choice of color) Spray Paint
- Grade Zero Soft Steel Wool
- Surface to Mount on…Wood, Cardboard, Stretched Canvas etc…
How to Assemble:
How to Assemble:- Spray adhesive to your mounting surface and the front of the leaves
- Gently press the leaves to the surface, vein side up
- Spray another coat of adhesive to the surface, over the leaves
- Place Aluminum Foil on top of the leaves, with the shiny side up
- With fingers rub over the leaves to reveal the leaf textures and textures of the mounting surface
- Spray an even coat of the spray paint on top of the foil…let dry
- With soft steel wool, VERY GENTLY rub the surface of the foil…until you get the desired amount of silver shinning through
- If you accidentally rip the foil, spray a little more paint or color in with a marker
***Here are some more fun Fall Leaf Crafts!
We hope you enjoy this craft as much as we do. If you decide to create either of this craft or any of the craft projects that we shared with you, please feel free to share your finished product!
Snap a picture and share it on our Facebook page! Have a craft idea you’d love to share? We’d love to mingle with you on Pinterest!
Do you have any ideas of what might work besides spray paint for this project? I will be doing this overseas and don’t know what my access will be to spray paint and I can’t carry it over! Thank you!
Hi Trudy! I loved your technique with the foil and leaves. I teach several art classes on different techniques. I showed the foil leaf project that I made to my students and they all want me to teach them how to do it. All my students are seniors that live in retirement homes and also the local senior center. I think this will be a perfect project for them. I put my leaves onto matte board, they are a 5×7 size. I then found some neat antique looking silver frames at the 99 cent store. Yes they are plastic but they look like metal. They are silver antiqued in black like the foil art. The frame makes it a work of art to hang on the wall.
Wow, I know my husband will be excited about this one. He has gotten into picking up leaves as he goes for his walks. The variety and the differences are staggering. This is a lovely way to keep them!
Trudy
Hi, Trudy! I hope your husband enjoys this. I’d love to see what he comes up with!
Oh!!! I just wanted to let you know, I did make one of these and it is FABULOUS!! No lie! I have it on my wall and I know a lot of people are doing this with just the kids. Me? I did it for myself for my wall!! It looks wonderful and reminds me of a great fall walk, picking up the beautiful leaves as we walked along! Thank you for this GREAT idea! :)
Yay! So glad you had fun with the craft, Deirdre! Thanks for leaving your feedback!
-Jamie
My 4th grade class did this (with india ink) in 1970! Great to see this technique revived!
Great project! I will be making one or more this weekend, but: won’t the leaves get moldy?
So doing this with my group!!! Love it! Instead of wood, could you use styrofoam squares???
Es un proyecto muy bonito,yo hice uno con la silueta de la hoja de un papayo y lo pinte con acrílicos tonos de otoño y termine dándole brillo con laminilla dorada y plateada ,me gustaría enviarle foto pero no se como se hace,gracias por compartir este novedoso proyecto.
Cecilia-
Thanks so much for stopping by. I am glad to hear you enjoyed the project. You can send a photo to jamie@mybakingaddiction.com. Have a great day!
-Jamie