Leaves make a great addition to almost any craft. You’ll be surprised at how they can really make a journal entry, scrapbook page, or garden stepping stones really pop out at you. Here are five great leaf crafts for your home and garden. Try them and you’ll be sure to like them!
1. Thanksgiving Placemats
This first one is an excellent activity to prepare for the holidays. Go out and find a large collection of beautiful fall leaves from your yard, neighborhood, park, etc. Bring them home and press them in a large book, a steaming iron and a towel, or other pressing methods. Once they are sufficiently flattened, you’re ready to begin your placemat. You’ll need some contact paper and scissors. Take the first sheet of contact paper and peel off the protective layer. Place some of the leaves carefully on the paper. Then take the second sheet of contact paper and place it over the first sheet. Don’t worry about getting it perfectly lined up with the first, as long as all the leaves are covered by two sheets of paper. Finally, take the scissors and trim around the edges of the placemat for a finished, unique project!
2. Pressed Journal Leaves
This one is even easier than the first. Do you have a journal or memory book that you’d like to jazz up a bit? The perfect way to do that is by adding some pressed leaves to your journal. Go out leaf collecting and find a few leaves that might look nice in your journal. Press the leaves in a large book or by steaming them in a towel under a steaming iron. Them get some glue or tape and place the leaves in your journal. If you’re worried about your leaf breaking or tearing in your book, you might consider getting a small piece of laminate to place over the area surrounding the leaf.
3. Scrapbooking with Leaves
Scrapbooking with leaves is also a great idea, especially if you’re working on an event or occasion that occurred around the fall. You can either collect leaves and press them, as discussed in #2, or you can make a stamp out of the pressed leaves. To do this, take your pressed leaf and either dip it in an ink pad or you take a roller and gently roll the entire leaf. Just be sure that either way you choose, you completely and thoroughly cover the whole leaf with ink. Then place the leaf on your scrapbook page. Take a piece of paper and lay it over the top so that you can gently rub the leaf, enabling all the ink to get on the scrapbook page. Use a variety of leaves so that you get a great result.
4. Leaf Photo Mat
Use leaves to create a unique and textured photo mat. This is great for any fall-themed photo. Collect some fall leaves and press them. Then get a photo mat of the desired size. Place the leaves on the mat and use a dab of glue to secure them. You may have to trim around the edges to make sure that the mat fits in the photo frame. Then find the perfect picture for the mat and you’ve got a creative picture frame!
5. Leaves for Garden Stepping Stones
If you’re making stepping stones to put in your garden, you might want to think about adding leaves to make them a little more unique. You can do this one of two ways. First, when the concrete in your stepping stones is still wet, press some leaves into the concrete and then gently remove the leaf, leaving the imprint behind. Or you can simply leave the leaf in the stepping stone for a little bit of color and texture all at once.
