Looking for an easy, cost-effective way to transition your home into Fall? Why not take inspiration from the colorfest that’s happening right outside your front door! By letting the color, shape and texture of the fallen leaves do the heavy lifting, it’s quite easy to create graphic, seasonal art on a budget. Go back to nature with this festive leaf art project the whole family can partake in!

Materials:

Colorful Fall leaves: a variety of species, large and small. I tried to gather only leaves that had already fallen from the trees.Old magazineHeavy booksPoster boardPicture framesDouble-sided tapeBasic crafting materials: pencil + scissors

1. Collect fallen colorful leaves of all species, sizes and colors. I collected more than I knew I’d need so that I’d have options for laying them out in the frames.

2. Place them flat and uncrowded (don’t overlap) between the pages of an old magazine. Top with several heavy books and leave to dry for about a week.

3. Cut the poster board down to the size of your frame.

4. Once the leaves are dry, carefully pull the leaves out from between the magazine pages, and group them in various combinations and patterns.

5. Layout the leaves on the poster board and tweak until you have your desired look or pattern. Adhere each leaf into place with a small piece of double sided tape. Place the poster board into the frame, close up the back and hang!

For the symmetrical layout, start with a unique single leaf at the dead center of the frame and work your way out to the edges. Create symmetry by imagining a vertical line of symmetry running down the center of the poster board and a horizontal line of symmetry running across the center of the poster board, and place leaves to create a mirror image across the symmetry lines.

The leaves are organic, so the symmetry won’t be PERFECT, but I think that’s what gives the art unique character, and makes it more visually interesting.