Autumn Crafts for kids Kids crafts tutorial

Leaf-printed air drying clay decorations

air drying clay decorations

You may have thought we were running out of Autumnal crafts as we seem to be crafting a lot but I have a new one to share today. I finally got round to trying leaf printing on air drying clay. I like air drying clay, it’s really versatile and I wanted to do something with the leaves my 3 year old keeps giving me.

Equipment to make leaf-printed air drying clay decorations

Air drying clay
Leaves
Rolling pin
Greaseproof paper
Circular cookie cutter
Gold and silver metallic paint

 

air drying clay

How to make leaf-printed air drying clay decorations

I rolled out the air drying clay until it was a couple of millimetres thick then placed a selection of different leaves on top.

air drying clay

I placed a sheet of greaseproof paper on top and gently used a rolling pin to press the leaves into the clay.

air drying clay decorations

This is what it looked like. Aren’t those Autumn leaves so pretty?

air drying clay decorations

I used a pin to careful lift up a corner of the leaves and removed them from the clay.

air drying clay decorations

I actually made two of these. One I left as it was for painting when dry.

 

air drying clay decorations

The other I made into small decorations by cutting out circles from the clay using a round cutter.

air drying clay decorations

Then I left the clay impressions on a small tray out of reach of my children for a few days until they had completely dried. If you want to hang your decorations make sure to make a small hole with a knitting needle.

air drying clay decorations

When the clay circles had dried I painted over them with gold and silver metallic paint. The paint seemed to pick up the details of the leaves really well. I added some Bakers twine and hung them on our seasonal tree. They make great decorations and I would be happy to make these with my children too.

air drying clay decorations

11 Comments

  • Reply
    Chloe
    October 21, 2015 at 9:27 am

    Wow this looks really cool. What a creative way to use leaves. We’ve got a pile o f them that we collected for crafts but are a bit stumped on what to do with them. I might try this with my little one. Thank you for sharing. xx #letkidsbekids

  • Reply
    Let kids be kids
    October 22, 2015 at 1:51 pm

    These are really pretty and a lovely autumn decoration. My son has been asking to use clay, I must get some.
    Thanks for linking #LetKidsBeKids

  • Reply
    Su {Ethan & Evelyn}
    October 28, 2015 at 10:26 pm

    That a lovely idea! I think I will be making some of these for our Christmas tree this year. I have pinned this and shared on fb. Hope that’s okay with you. 🙂 x

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