Hello friends!
I know it's been officially Fall for a couple weeks now, but Fall weather has yet to hit my neck of the woods (central California) so my fix for this dilemma is crafting my way into Fall decor.
You see, this is actually the very first year I've decorated my home for Fall. I know, gasp, right? And by decorated, I mean a few pumpkins, a whole lot of acorns, my Fall Burlap Banner, a cute DIY Mini Cloche and a Fall centerpiece on our dinning table (coming to the blog soon).
But hey, you gotta start somewhere, right?
The newest addition to my Fall decor collection?
This Hanging Gold Leaves Art that was free and just sort of happened while playing outdoors with my daughter.
This could be probably one of the easiest fall decor ever. On top of that, I am going to show you another 3 additional fall decor art craft you can do at your home at the bottom of this article.
I was swinging my daughter on her swing in our backyard when I noticed the few leaves that had fallen from our tree. Then I remembered this post from Paper & Fox and though, "Oh yes". This is so happening.
For the sake of not being a bad mother and leaving my daughter to swing herself I swung her a little longer but my eyes were fixed on those leaves!
As soon as she hopped off, I volunteered her to help me gather a few leaves. Being the daughter of a DIY and craft enthusiast, she knew mommy wasn't trying to clean up the yard but had some craft up her sleeve. Smart girl.
How to Make DIY Fall Leaves Art
I spray painted the leaves with my beloved gold spray paint and let them dry for a whole 5 minutes - this stuff dries fast!
Then I went hunting for a branch. Mission failed. That is until I spotted a small bamboo stick that was supporting one of our growing plants. You better believe I snatched that baby! Sh, don't tell my hubby. He wouldn't understand why this bamboo stick had better things to do displaying my pretty gold leaves than to be supporting the growth of our plant.
I loved the natural color of the bamboo so I didn't violate it with an paint.
I cut some strands of cotton twine and tied one end to the leaf stem and the other end to the bamboo stick.
I also tied another longer strand of cotton twine to each end of the bamboo stick and I use a thumbtack to display it on my wall.
I have it taped to the back of my chalkboard here just for the pictures.
This little craft was so fun and easy! I really don't think it could get easier than tying leaves to a stick!
I love that it's so simple yet pretty! Gold makes everything pretty, doesn't it?!
If you are looking for a few other fall leaves decor ideas, here are 3 of my favorites I have found online:
3 DIY Fall Leaf Craft Ideas
Here some other diy fall leaf craft ideas for you to try at home:
1. Watercolor Fall Leaf Wreath
This is actually a pretty easy and fun project to do with your kids.
You will need watercolors, glue, paper plate, scissors and printed leaf templates. You can find some leaf templates online and print them using your printer.
Take the printed papers and start coloring them using the watercolors. To make the colors blend nicely with each other, you can use the wet-on-wet technique by wetting the paper before starting to paint.
Allow the painting to dry out completely before starting to cut the leave templates.
After the paint is dried out, use a die cutter if you have one, or just go with the scissors to cut the leaves. To cut them easier, cut the sheets into quarters first and then start cutting the leaves individually. If you went for the correct size, you should get around 12-15 leaves from each painting.
Next, cut the center of the paper plate to make a rounded border and create a wreath from. Start attaching the leaves to the paper plate using glue. Keep gluing the leaves until the wreath is fully covered and then add a ribbon in the middle for hanging.
That’s it! This fall leaf decoration looks so pretty and is actually very easy to do.
Source: Happinessishomemade
2. DIY Leaf Placemats
This is a cheap DIY you can try to give your dining table a nice fall vibe, especially if you are throwing a friend’s party or just for Thanksgiving.
Each placement will take around 10-15 minutes of your time and the cost will be around $12 for a set of 4.
For this project, you will need artificial leaves. You can find packages of artificial leaves at your local decoration store. Usually they come in packs of 120 leaves but there are packs of 210 and 500 leaf.
You will need modpodge, glossy or matt finish, depending on your taste. Also, you will need sponge brush, plastic wrap and plastic cup.
To make this, you have to start by spreading out 2 pieces of plastic wrap to make a square big enough to make a circle placemat around 12-14”.
Then, using the sponge brush, spread the modpodge on the plastic wrap. Make a circle big enough to get started but you can always add more podpodge in the future.
Grab your artificial leaf and put it into the modpodge. To make it even easier, you can just dab at it instead of brushing it. Try to cover the entire leaf before jumping to the next one.
Continue layering the leaves and dabbing the modpodge as you work. Don’t try to make it perfect. The leaves won’t be perfectly flat as they will continue to curl and move as the modpodge dries.
After you finish making the leaf design, grab another plastic wrap and put it on top of it, and then place a large book on top. Let it sit like that for around 2 hours.
After 2 hours, remove the top layer of plastic wrap. The modpodge will still be wet and the leaves may move around but they will stick better after they are fully dried out. If you notice any plastic wrapping on the leaves, try to remove it, so they look cleaner.
And that’s a wrap for this project. You can now place them on your table and put the place on top to give it the fall décor look.
Source: TheStyleSafari
3. Paper Leaf Mobile
Another great guide by the Happiness is Homemade. This time, how to make paper leaf mobile.
You will need only a few sheets of paper and around 1 hour of your time. This project is also fun to do especially if you have kids.
Start by grabbing a palette and creating a watercolor painting. You can then use a die cut machine to cut the leaf from the papers. If you don’t have a die cut machine, you can use some scissors.
If you are going to use the scissors, I recommend you to find some leaf templates on Google and then print them out. This way, it will be easier to cut off using scissors.
After you cut out all the leaves from the paper, you can use a Big Shot machine to create the texture and make them look more real.
It will take around 10-15 minutes to make a stack of watercolor leaves.
After you have the leaves ready, grab a branch from your garden and some thread to make the baby mobile.
Simply tie the string to the steam of the leaf and then tie the other end to the branch. Very Easy!
Create a row of leaves and then layer additional rows in different heights to create the depth and movement sensation.
Overall, it will take around 1 hour to complete this project and you will actually need some additional tools to make it look more realistic. You can always go for a simpler approach without using advanced texture tools such as the Big Shot Machine. It totally depends on your preferences.
