It’s fall, which means the streets are flooded with leaves, over-sized sweaters, and Starbucks pumpkin spice lattes. Yes, the outdoor trends of fall are wonderful, but here are a few ideas for keeping up with seasonal trends indoors.
If you’re like me, there’s nothing you love more than a good, creative craft to kick off a new season. Want to add some color into your off-white dorm room walls? Just moved into a new apartment and itching to make it feel like home? Want to send your friends and family a letter in a hand-made envelope? These are my top three, favorite “fall-themed” crafts, all of which can be found hanging around my apartment.
LEAF ART
What you need:
• Canvas or cardstock paper (it’s up to you!)
• Spray on adhesive
• Craft and spray paint (choose your own colors)
• Leaves (make sure you choose leaves with enough definition for pressing)
Tips:
**Before beginning, you need to press the leaves for at least a day. So, press your leaves under some heavy books the night before you want to do this project.
** Use leaves that will leave a good definition on the canvas. Big leaves like the ones used in the above photo work really well.
Step one: Paint the entire canvas or paper the color you want the LEAF to be. Leave to dry for a few minutes.
Step two: Use the adhesive glue on the back of the leaves. Place on the painted surface and make sure the edges are pressed down cleanly. Be careful so the next paint layer doesn’t seep under the leaves.
Step three: Spray paint the ENTIRE surface, including covering the leaves. (You’re spray-painting what the background will be; so when you peel off the leaf, it will be the first color.)
Note: For best results, spray lightly, 1-2 feet away, and move left to right.
Step four: Carefully peel away the leaves.
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HOME MADE DREAM CATCHERS
This is a fun one, but it’s very tedious and will take longer. However, it’s totally worth it to have your very own, personal dream catcher!
Here’s what you need:
- A metal hoop
- A cloth doily
- A hot glue gun
- String
- Beads
- Feathers
- Suede Ribbon
Step one: Tightly wrap the suede ribbon around the rim of the hoop. Hot glue the first piece when you begin and continue to wrap the suede ribbon as tight as you can until you’ve gone around the entire hoop. I made mine more colorful, so I used two different colors of suede. If you do this, just make sure you hot glue the suede down when you begin and end it.
Step two: Place the doily in the middle of the rim. Flatten it to make sure it’s flat and centered. Take a needle and some string and thread through the small holes on the left and right corners of each tip of the doily. Wrap from the rim, through the first hole, back around the rim and back through the second hole:
Complete this around the rim until you’ve threaded the string through each tip of the doily. Before tightening the string, make sure the doily is centered and tight. Tie and knot or hot glue the string to the rim. You can cover the knot in the next step, if needed.
Step three: Decorate the rim with some string. This can be as simple or complex as you want it to be. I used four different colors of string and wrapped it in small and medium chunks around the rim. It’s really up to how you want to design it.
Step four: Use the leftover suede ribbon and create strands for your dream catcher. You can be as creative as you want here. Some suggestions I have are tying knots in the suede and adding beads, securing them with knots in between. You can also braid the string you have in different patterns to hang. I also used a lot of feathers by hot gluing them to strands of suede. I found a strand of crystal-like beads, so I glued that to my rim as well.
Step five: Use the hot glue to attach the suede to the bottom portion of the rim. Attach as many strands as you want and then you’re done!
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MAP ENVELOPS
What you need:
- Map print (you can find a print at a craft store or paper Source for a few bucks!)
- Envelope
- Scissors
- A glue stick
Step one: Choose what size envelope you want to make. Take apart the envelope and lay it flat as shown:
Step two: Turn over the map print and lay the envelope flat against the paper. Use a pencil to outline the shape of the envelope. Space out the outlines; you should be able to get 6-7 envelopes out of a sheet.
Step three: Cut out the envelopes. Be careful to follow the lines exactly as you drew them, or else the folds will be weird.
Step four: Fold in the sides of the envelope, beginning with the bottom flap. Then, fold in the right and left wings. After folding, lightly glue the flaps down.