I think I may have mentioned a few times that fall is my favorite season.  I love the crisp air and the gorgeous fall colors.   Each time fall rolls around, I spend time going for walks and taking photos.

This year, I wanted to use nature to create a little fall leaves wall art.

The idea to use fall leaves as wall art isn’t a new one by any means.  If you look around on Pinterest, you’ll be sure to find all kinds of wreaths, crayon rubbings and drawings of fall leaves.  A friend of mine once decopaged a trail of fall leaves on the wall leading down an upstairs hallway.  It was such a gorgeous look, but I knew I didn’t have the guts to glue leaves onto my walls.

Instead, I decided to create a piece of fall leaves wall art that I could place in a frame.   This is a simple project that can easily be adapted to whatever size and design your heart desires.

DIY Fall Leaves Wall Art

Supplies:

• Fall leaves
• Mod Podge or some other product that will allow you to affix the leaves and dries clear
• Paintbrush
• Glue
• Scrapbook cardstock
• Scrapbook paper
• A computer printer
• A picture frame

Directions:

Head outside and gather up a variety of fall leaves.  Look for a variety of colors, shapes and sizes.  I tried to find leaves that didn’t have any imperfections in them.  Make sure they’re not too wet or too dry and are free of any little creepy crawly friends.

Determine how large you want the art to be.   Be sure to pick a common frame size (5×7, or 8×10).  I used a 12×12 shadowbox frame I’d picked up at a clearance sale years ago.

Cut the cardstock to fit your frame.  The cardstock will serve as the background for your art.  If you don’t have any cardstock, a thicker scrapbooking paper would also work.

Decide if you will want to include a quote or saying on your fall leaves art.    Then use a photo editing program or a word processing program to create the word art for your project.  Experiment with fonts, colors and sizes until you get the look you want.  Print out your phrase on coordinating scrapbook paper or cardstock.    I found a quote that I liked from Maya Angelou for my project.

Arrange the leaves and word art on the cardstock.   Take some time to decide which fall leaves you’ll use and where you’d like them placed.  Move the words around on the canvas to see where they look best.

Use the ModPodge to glue the leaves to the cardstock.  Using a paintbrush, paint the backs of the leaves with the ModPodge (or other clear adhesive) and lay them where you want on the cardstock.   Be careful not to damage the leaves if they are very dry and if they’re slightly damp, watch for curling around the edges.  Once they’re placed where you want them, you may want to weight them down with a heavy book to help them adhere to the paper and lay flat.

Paint another layer of ModPodge over the top of the leaves.   This helps preserve the fall leaves and gives them a nice sheen that really makes their colors pop.

Glue the word art into place.   I actually used a couple of scrapbooking glue dots to lift the words up from the leaves a bit.  You could use plain glue or even ModPodge to attach the words if you don’t have any glue dots.

Let the whole project dry.  The hardest part is waiting for your art to dry!  It takes awhile for it to completely dry, so be sure to keep it in a warm, dry place out of the hands of little ones. If you put it into a frame while it’s still damp, it will adhere to the glass in the frame.

Frame the art.  Place  your finished project  in a frame and hang it on the wall.

I love how simple this DIY fall leaves wall art was to create.  At each stage there was room to be creative.  Because I was able to use items from nature with things I already had around the house, I was able to create some beautiful new art for my wall without spending a fortune.