We are trying hard to include the kids in everything that we do, especially when it comes to things that are displayed in the home. I want so much for them to feel a sense of pride about their home, and having their own time and efforts invested in it is a great way to do that I think. It also teaches teamwork within the family, and shows that everything comes together when we all do our parts.
Anna is my crafty girl, so she was the one that helped me out with this project today.
I am of course still trying to be as frugal as possible, so I have been gathering items for this craft for some time. I was lucky enough to find the wreath base for this project for $1 at a thrift store about a month ago, and snagged it up. If you are looking for one, I know Hobby Lobby has them for about $5.99 for the same size, which is still a great price (especially when you use their
40% off coupon).
Personally I like these wreaths as is - they are beautiful and natural and all kinds of earthy, which is right up my alley. But, I wanted to do something with the kids, so this project was born!
I'd seen a lot of neat ideas on Pinterest for painting coffee filters to make leaves. We started out by filling several bowls with about 1/4 cup water, and a good squirt of liquid acrylic paint. In each bowl we put a different color - purple, orange, yellow, brown, and green. We were going off of things we had on hand and I ran out of red or that would have been in there too. It's important for the paint to be watered down a bit, but not really faint. You want it to still come out pretty bold on the coffee filters because it lightens after it dries.
See? Lighter, but so so pretty. I love that there is no rhyme or reason to the color placement (though I am sure Anna would tell you different). That makes this project incredibly kid-friendly. The only important thing is just to cover the whole coffee filter when you paint it.
To dry them, we used clothespins and hung them up outside for about 10-15 minutes each. We made around 10 of them. They dried really quickly, so we could easily move on with our craft to the next step. Yay for instant gratification!!
Depending on the age of your kids (and their frustration level) this may be an adult portion of the project. It was in our case simply because Anna went off to the county fair with her daddy, and mama was too impatient to wait. To cut out the leaves I started by folding the filter in half, and then folding that into thirds for the maple leaves. For regular "oval" shaped leaves I folded the half into quarters since they didn't need to be as big. Hopefully that makes sense.
Also - a tip! I was a bit surprised that it was easier to cut the leaves "upside down" rather than from the point outward. With the bottom of the leaves typically being the "fat" part, it worked out better to start at the rounded edge and cut my way up toward the point to make the leaves. I got more out of each filter that way.
After you cut them out, fold them down the middle to resemble the spine that usually goes down the center of each leaf. It gives them a bit of dimension too, so that's a pretty important step.
I have to pause here and just drool a little bit over the beautiful fall-ness of these leaves. I mean seriously. Don't they look totally real and autumny? My 11 year old, Abbi, came in and started lifting them up and watching them drop down in the air. SO so pretty. Of course my camera wasn't cooperating for that part, so feel free to use your imagination.
If you want to take fall photos of your kids without them getting dirty, this is a great prop (hint to any budding photographers out there). Bonus -they're reusable and don't fall apart over time like "real" fall leaves do. Also - the color.... gorgeous. See what I mean about mixing the paint colors in random ways and how it winds up being awesome in the end product? If they were totally solid and perfectly painted they wouldn't look real at all, but they totally do. The weird thing too, is that they even feel like leaves with the neat texture of the coffee filter
Annnd one more oogling glance at the pretty leaves.... ok moving on now.
Finito!
(and sorry about the spots where the glue was obviously still drying - it dries clear, I promise... did I mention that I am impatient?)
I just used tacky glue to tack down the leaves all facing in the same general direction (but kinda caddy-wompus to the left and right of each other to give it a more spread-out natural feel). They dried to each other pretty quickly. I felt like it needed a little something extra so I added a few sticks in a circle to hilight the "wreath" feel to it.
I may add some acorns or other natural findings as we go on nature walks this fall, but for now, it is finished (except for the glue drying) and hanging on my door, ready to welcome visitors.
What kinds of things do you do with your kids to welcome the Autumn season?
