10/14/13

Brown Paper Bag Leaves

Right inside my entryway, I have a vintage vanity dresser. It makes a great place to decorate for the different seasons. This fall, I decided I wanted a garland draped across the top of the mirror. I started with a few corn cobs. These are strawberry popcorn cobs and later I will probably eat them. Yum! I love popcorn! Then I wanted to fill in with something leafy. I could see in my mind, a garland of beautiful fall leaves and I loved what I saw! There was however, a slight problem: I'm an impatient person. I like to gather a lot of my own fall decorations from nature, but nature wasn't working fast enough for me. Although the leaves are beginning to turn colors in the nearby mountains, I've been so busy at home that I haven't found time to go on a leaf gathering trek. And then there was the issue of how to keep the natural leaves looking the way I wanted. Leaves dry out and curl up pretty quickly and that wasn't quite the look I had envisioned. There are a few methods of preserving falls leaves, but nothing really grabbed my attention... One morning, I decided I needed to just make my own leaves. I'm quite pleased with how they turned out! The best part: they were easy to make and cost me nothing because I had everything I needed already.

Before I settled on this leaf making method, I tried a few other things that didn't turn out the way I wanted. My sweet husband is such a supporter of my creativity. He came home from work that evening to find the house had exploded with art supplies. Rubber stamps, scissors, paints, tissue paper, glue, random bits of paper... *sigh* I really enjoy an organized house, but sometimes when I get really excited about creating, things get out of hand. Luckily instead of reacting to any of the mess, he just raved about my paper leaves. What a great guy! I had to spend a good amount of time putting things back in their proper places, but I think the finished project was worth the art-supply tornado aftermath. Here's the method I came up with so you can make your own brown paper bag leaves.

Supplies you'll need:
A brown paper bag or two (large heavy-duty grocery store type) or thick brown craft paper
Scissors
Acrylic paints in your desired color scheme.

1. Cut out your leaves. I folded a section of paper in half and then just free-hand cut into an oak leaf shape, but you could choose any type of leaf shape you wanted. I cut out a variety of sizes and since I was free handing it, each leaf was a little different. I think it turned out really nice that way.
2. Paint your leaves. I used yellow red, brown, and black acrylics paint to mix up a variety of fall leaf colors. Some leaves I did a wash style painting using lots of water and a just a little paint. Other leaves I painted more thickly, but even then I diluted it some so it wasn't too thick. I wanted the colors to look rather muted. Some of them, I just painted evenly one color, others I did with more detail, others still I was more random with the coloring. Try a few things out to see what you like best. It's fun! Turn on some music or put on your favorite movie and paint away! Set them to the side to dry.
3. Shape your leaves. This really is the finishing touch. Once the leaves are basically dry and starting to curl up, gently crease down the center of the leaf and then down the sides to mimic the veins of a leaf. You don't want hard creases, and they also don't need to be perfectly in line. you just want to add some subtly shape to your leaves.
4. Decorate with your leaves. This is the best part! I used my leaves to fill in my fall garland. I started with some natural colored yarn, tied the corn cobs on, and then used a hot glue gun to attach my paper leaves to the yarn in between the corn cobs. As a finishing touch, I used some extra acorns from my twig and acorn wreath project and glued a few of them on with the leaves. These look beautiful as a garland! I also glued some to mono filament and hung them in my front window. I'm not done decorating in my window. It needs something else, but so far, I'm loving the falling leaf look! I have a few other ideas of how I'm using my paper leaves as well, so you might see more of these in the future. I'm thinking I might decorate some of my grapevine wreaths with these. What do you think?
If you make some paper leaves, I'd love to hear how you decorated with them. There are so many possibilities! Have fun!
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Oak Hill Homestead
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29 comments:

  1. Hello! I love upcyling and using a brown paper bag is a great way to do that! The leaves turned out so pretty! One can hardly tell they aren't real! Great job and nice tutorial! Thanks for sharing! Blessings from Bama!

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    1. Hi Felecia! Thank you for stopping by! I'm so glad you enjoyed my paper bag leaves! Have a wonderful week!

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  2. Very cute! I like the dimension they have!

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  3. Very cute! This would be so fun and relaxing to do! Can't wait to try it. Saw you at the Shabby Nest's Frugal Friday. It's an idea that is truly frugal!

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    1. Thank you Jeannie! It really is a great project. I hope you get a chance to try it! Thanks for stopping by!

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  4. Adorable and such a sweet craft! Thanks for sharing at Silver Pennies Sundays! x

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    1. Thank you Danielle! Hope you're having a wonderful week! I look forward to joining you again for Silver Pennies Sundays!

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  5. Very cute! I featured your post today on The Creative Home & Garden Hop! Can't wait to see what you share this week!

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    1. Thank you Lisa! What a pleasure to be featured at The Creative Home & Garden Hop! :)

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  6. Your brown paper leaves are so cute and the kids will love making them. Thank you for sharing with the Clever Chicks Blog Hop! I hope you’ll join us again next week!

    Cheers,
    Kathy Shea Mormino
    The Chicken Chick
    http://www.The-Chicken-Chick.com

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    1. Thanks Kathy! I'm glad you enjoyed it and I hope you and the kids get a chance to make some! They are really fun! See you again at the Clever Chicks Blog Hop!

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  7. Beautiful craft - the leaves look fantastic! So delighted you shared with Home and Garden Thursday,
    Kathy

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  8. Such a cute banner! Thanks for sharing it.

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  9. I love using everyday items in my crafting and these leaves are brilliant. Wanted to let you know I'm featuring them when my link party opens up tonight!

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    1. Thanks Carol! I'm looking forward to stopping by tonight! Can't wait to see my leaves featured! What an honor! :)

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  10. Thats really a good idea! I wanted to make a wreath but I'm hobbling around on a broken toe. Going to Hobby Lobby seems way too hard to do right now, so perhaps your leaf idea will work. Thanks!

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    1. Oh no! I hope your toe heals quickly! A good project is always nice to help pass the time. I hope you get a chance to try this one out! Thanks for stopping by

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  11. I love oak leaves! This really caught my eye. I'm sharing on FB. Have a lovely day!
    ~ Kathi @ oakhillhomestead.com

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    1. Thank you for sharing at the HomeAcre Hop; I hope you'll join us again this Thursday.
      Kathi @ OHH

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    2. Thank you Kathi! I appreciate the FB share! I'll be seeing you soon at the HomeAcre Hop! Have a wonderful day! :)

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    3. Good morning! I've featured your post at the HomeAcre Harvest Hop today. I love this! (How could I not? It's *oak leaves*!)
      Kathi @ http://www.oakhillhomestead.com

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    4. That's wonderful! Thank you so much! Can't wait to head over there and join the hop! Thanks for hosting it!

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I love hearing from my readers! Please remember to keep your comments uplifting and family friendly. Thanks and have a wonderful day!

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