Leaf Prints
We were inspired today by the beautiful colors of fall. Our leaves are amazing so we decided to preserve a bit of fall with some leaf prints.
We used acrylic paint in bottles, lots of wax paper and a brayer (our fingers worked just as well, but my 3 year old had fun with the “special roller”) You could also use a cup or bottle with smooth sides as your “roller.”
My daugher painted the back of the leaf. My job was to check and make sure she painted to the edges and smooth out any globs of paint. You don’t want too much paint, just a nice even coat. The amount of paint varies also by what your are printing on—the fabric took a bit more paint than the paper.
Place leaf paint side down on what you want to print. We printed a canvas bag we had and a kitchen towel (not pictured). Cover leaf with a piece of wax paper. I held the wax paper down over the leaf (to keep the leaf from flying around -remember my craft partner is 3) while she used the brayer to smooth out the leaf. I told her to press hard. We had good luck using our fingers to press the leaf onto the surface also.
Remove your leaf and you have a beautiful print. After a few tries you will get the hang of how much paint to use.
If you are printing on fabric iron after the paint dries (with a press cloth) to set the paint. If my child could write I thought it would be cute for her to write “I am thankful for you” and I would embroider over her letters. It would make a cute gift for a teacher or someone special. Maybe it will have to be in my handwriting this year.
We also printed some gift tags for some November baking we plan to do.
That turned out really cute! I will have to use that idea!!! : )
04 Nov 2008 at 6:56 pm
My mom used to do this with us! I have great memories of it. I especially love the gift tags–I think the paper takes the paint a bit better than the fabric does.
04 Nov 2008 at 7:19 pm
This project is FANTASTIC! I will have to try this with my DD. She will absolutely love it. Thanks for another great idea!
04 Nov 2008 at 7:40 pm
Love that! I am going to try the tags!
04 Nov 2008 at 8:02 pm
Beautiful! I just love the bag and tags! Your partner did a great job! xo
04 Nov 2008 at 11:50 pm
Your bag turned out beautifully. I recently did some leaf painting and it’s such a fun and easy technique.
Lots of great projects here and your site is a pleasure to browse. I’ll be sure to pop in and visit you again to see what you’re up to.
05 Nov 2008 at 1:27 am
So cute! My 8 yr old son enjoys bringing me home leaves everyday lately and will love this project. I think the tags are adorable. Thanks!
05 Nov 2008 at 2:18 am
Great idea! We made bags a couple of weeks ago with apple prints but I didn’t think of leaves. I’m trying to find as many leaf projects as possible to try and get rid of some of ours.
05 Nov 2008 at 2:20 am
beautiful. my boys would definitely love this project!
05 Nov 2008 at 5:21 am
beautifful!!!
05 Nov 2008 at 2:17 pm
what a fun idea, can you see me covering everything with leaves…..
05 Nov 2008 at 3:00 pm
This is so amazing!!!
05 Nov 2008 at 3:08 pm
very cool and your photos are fantastic!
05 Nov 2008 at 3:29 pm
Those are great! I am going to have to try that technique.
Your photos are great, too.
05 Nov 2008 at 3:55 pm
This is so pretty! Love it
06 Nov 2008 at 6:47 am
[...] leaf activity that produces a beautiful result is leaf printing, from Skip to My Lou. It teaches basic printmaking, and it encourages some real close-up [...]
06 Nov 2008 at 7:36 pm
What a neat use for leaves! Very pretty work! Looks like great fun for the kiddos.
06 Nov 2008 at 8:16 pm
These a beautiful!
07 Nov 2008 at 12:07 am
I love the leaf prints, especially the really cute gift tags. But, I absolutely love that idea you threw out about having the child write something, and then embroidering over it. I’m going to embroider a drawing of my son’s for a gift for Grandma, and having him write something on there will be the perfect added touch. Thx!
11 Nov 2008 at 1:43 am
This would be great on plain napkins! If you were going somewhere else for the holiday it could be a hostess gift.
11 Nov 2008 at 5:07 am
What an inexpensive but so cool idea! The possibilities are endless
18 Nov 2008 at 3:19 am