Heart Leaf Art

Valentine's Day is just a few days away and I just can't stop my brain from working on heart shapes. I've had a whole slew of dried leaves hanging around since last June when I decided to press a bunch from my Forest Pansy Red Bud. At that time, I announced my intention to use them for something Valentine's related. Then, in the Fall, I decided that I wanted to paint some of them. I liked those results, but still wanted to use the natural leaves this season.

I found a $3 red frame last week when I was out shopping with Jellybean (the best shopping buddy ever) and decided that I'd go ahead and frame my collection of leaves. After a bit of arranging and rearranging, this is what I came up with.

Total cost: $3.53 + tax (the $.53 was for the scrapbook paper background). Not so Valentine's specific that I can't keep it up on the mantel all year. Those leaves are so pretty, I'll have to be sure and press more of them this next Summer.

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

Thanksgiving Place Cards

When I was putting together my Fall Leaf Ornaments, I got thinking of different ways that I could work on the leaf theme with my clay.  My sister-in-law gave me some large leaf cookie cutters for my birthday, so I decided to work with those to create some Thanksgiving dinner place cards.

I just used the same process as I used with the ornaments and then spray painted a strip of chalkboard paint through the center.  These are easily re-useable from year to year, plus, your guests can wipe off their names and write something they are thankful for on their leaf during dinner.  I also thought that these could easily double as coasters.

We are looking forward to Thanksgiving here. I can't believe it's only a few days away. I guess it's time to get ready...

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

Painted Leaves

I guess I'm continuing on the leaf theme for the week. I posted a while ago about pressing leaves from my Forest Pansy Red Bud tree. That tree has such beautifully shaped leaves, it was difficult to resist.
Now that the weather is cooling, I've been able to snatch up a few leaves that have begun changing color. So, of course, I pressed those as well. I have some more "valentiney" plans for some of the heart-shaped leaves, but since I love the look of pressed leaves around the house in the Fall, I thought I'd do something different with a couple of them.

I had some paint around the house and some fine paint brushes, so I spent about five minutes and experimented with leaf painting.

I really thought I was ruining the leaf above, but now I think I like the end result. Most of the time, it's best not to tamper with the beauty of nature.

Some of these leaves were too beautiful to touch. I'm thinking of framing the above collection just as it is for my Fall decor. I can't wait to press more of the Fall leaves as they continue to change.

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

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"Stain Glass" Leaves and Pumpkins

It's been a little while since I've done a formal art activity with the kids. With Buddy starting school, I've felt a bit at loose ends and haven't been very good at planning. I decided to change that today. I saw this project somewhere on the internets last Fall and have been meaning to do it ever since. Now that Fall is nearly here, I keep seeing it pop up here and there on other blogs, so I decided to get the kids busy today and make some "stain glass" leaves. Buddy, being obsessed with Halloween, decided that he wanted to make "stain glass" jack-o-lanterns instead.

Materials needed:
-Clear contact paper
-Tissue paper
-Construction paper
-Scissors
-Masking tape
-Pen

We started by ripping up a lot of tissue paper in varying shades. I let the kids choose which colors they wanted to use and we went to town on it.

Torn up tissue paper pile got larger and larger.

Jellybean was pretty proud of the mess she was making.

It was not hard to convince the kids to rip up paper.  Jellybean could hardly contain her glee, "Mama, I'm making a mess!"
Once the kids were done ripping up the paper, I sent them off to play for a little while. I sketched out a maple leaf on some scratch paper and then copied it onto the back of the contact paper a couple of times. Then, I also sketched out a couple of simple pumpkin shapes.

I cut those out, peeled off the backing and placed them sticky side up in work stations for the kids. I used just a little bit of masking tape to secure them in place.

Contact paper maple leaf ready to go.

Then I cut out a few jack-o-lantern eyes, noses and mouth shapes for Buddy's pumpkins.

I called the kids over and they started to cover the contact paper with the torn-up tissue and face shapes for the pumpkins.

The kids had a really fun time plastering their shapes with color. Once the shapes were completely covered, I removed the masking tape and used my scissors to clean up any tissue that went out of the shape. We hung them up in the window to get the full effect. I think they turned out pretty cute.

Stain Glass Jack-O-Lanterns. Buddy loves the gold one.

Stain Glass Leaf. My photos don't quite catch how pretty these are in the window. The sun shining through really makes the colors pop.

All of the shapes hung up over looking the back yard. Note our wasp trap, in the background, that is completely full.

Definitely a fun afternoon project. We're really getting excited for Fall over here.

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

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