Watercolor Leaves

One of the most memorizing aspects of fall are the beautiful colors nature creates.  It's amazing to see how once alive, green leaves, in autumn, will change to the most spectacular colors as they die and fall to the ground.  

Those beautiful fall leaves are what inspired a DIY version in watercolor form.  You could even say, they are a nature knockoff. 

To make some of your own watercolor leaves, start by cutting leaves out of cardstock.  Our leaves were cut out of white, yellow and pink cardstock, yellow being my favorite.

For each leaf, you'll want to start by painting it with water...yes water.  Paint the entire leaf with a coat of water.

Then, slowly begin to add some watercolor paint to your wet leaf.  

As the wet watercolor hits the wet leaf, the paint will spread and swirl and take on a life of its own.  Continue adding color until you achieve the look you want.  If you find your leaf is too wet, simply dab it with a paper towel.  

 Set your finished painted leaves to the side and allow time for them to dry. 

These nature inspired watercolor leaves look great simply as they are...

Or, like we are doing, you could use them to display the things you are grateful for. 

Play dates, family and bedtime stories...those are a few of the things are are thankful for.

Felt Leaf Garland Tutorial

It's fall y'all.   Around these parts it means, raking leaves.

This felt leaf garland reminds me of all the best things about fall, minus the raking of the leaves.

First, grab some felt.  Fall colors preferably.

Cut out leaf shapes until you develop carpal tunnel syndrome...or hopefully just before that point.

Arrange your leaves in whatever pattern you'd like.  

Head to your sewing machine.

Begin by sewing straight through your first leaf.  Grab the next leaf from your stack and push it through, as you near the end of the first leaf.  If the foot doesn't catch the next leaf, simply raise the foot and position the next leaf to sew.  Continue pushing through the next leaf in the stack until you reach the end of the pile.  Lock in your stitch.

Done!

You've made a leaf garland.

Find a place to string them.

hang them

Or place them.

First shared on:

Owl Accessories

Whoooo doesn't love owls these days? They are rapidly becoming a favorite in our house.

Since we are obviously accessorizing with owls, I decided why not make some owl barrettes.

First, dig through your button jar to find some owl eyes. I found some flower shaped buttons, I think they gave my owl a day of the dead feel.

Then dig through your felt and start cutting out the pieces of owl.

Below is the template I used.

You can either hand sew or glue most of the pieces on to your owl. The buttons, however, will need to be sewn on. I prefer to sew down my pieces.

I only sewed through one piece of owl body. My grandma once said the back should always look as good as the front. She would not approve of my back.

I'd hope she'd approve of my front. I embroidered some w shapes on the wings of my owl, to give it a feather effect.

I like to add a second piece of felt, to hide the messy stitches on the back of my owl. I attach it by hand sewing around the body of the owl. I like to leave part of the bottom unsewn...you'll see why in a second.

Attach a barrette to the back with a few stitches.

And there you have it, an owl barrette.

When you feel like changing things up, turn your barrette into a...pencil topper.

A dual purpose owl..

that's wise!