Shimmering Autumn Leaf Craft

  This autumn leaf craft makes a beautiful decoration for your home this Fall.  This craft was taught to me by my friend Heather, who is a school teacher and uses this craft for her fifth grade class.  It is a great craft for children around age 10 and up, and for adults.  Leaf patterns are cut out of window screening.  Window screening can be bought by at a hardware store, usually sold on a roll by the foot.  For this reason, this craft is wonderful to do in a classroom since many leaves can be made from one foot of screening!  The cheap, flimsy screening works the best for this craft.  Then, the leaves are outlined using puffy paint and allowed to dry. These can be hung by a mantle, made into window hangings, made into a mobile, added to a fall wreath, or placed around the centerpiece on the table.  Be creative!

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Things Needed:

• Window screening (the cheap, flimsy kind is best).  This is sold at hardware stores, usually on a roll, by the foot.
• Metallic spray paint in Fall hues (gold, silver, bronze and red look great) available at: Jo-Ann.com
• Glittery puffy paint in Fall hues (gold, silver, bronze, orange, red are examples) available at: CrayolaStore.com  
• Length of ribbon for tying around the stem, available at: Jo-Ann.com
• Wax paper or parchment paper
• Scissors
• Straight pins

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1.  Begin the autumn leaf craft by printing out the leaf patterns by clicking here. A new window will open, (Adobe Reader is required)... if you don't have Adobe Reader, you can click here for the free download.  Or, create your own leaf patterns by tracing around real leaves.  Cut out the autumn leaf templates, and pin them to the window screening with straight pins.




2.  Now cut out the leaf patterns from the window screening, and remove the pins and the paper patterns.  




3.  Place the leaf patterns on some old paper or newspaper, and give them a nice coat of metallic spray paint.  Allow them to dry completely.

         

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