Magnolia Leaf Art

Kara and I did a really fun project last night with Magnolia leaves. We have two Magnolia trees in our yard.  I am always fascinated by the leaves, which are waxy green on one side and a gorgeous rust on the other.  The color inspired this Fall project.  At first, we considered painting and stamping on the leaves. I had seen others do this with their fall foliage.  But, as we sat in the studio surrounded by my fabric scraps, we came up with our own idea.  Here are a few of Kara's leaves -

These are simple to make.  Gather the leaves from your yard.  The first thing we did was to add some machine stitching around the edge of each leaf.  Then, we printed some words onto cream colored card stock.  Kara cut out the words and distressed the edges with brown ink.  The words could have easily been printed on fabric too. Then, just layer your scraps and add the word using gel medium that dries clear.  On the leaf above, Kara sewed on her fabric scraps then glued on her word.

We added a touch of clear gel medium in spots and sprinkled on some glitter too! Just tap off the excess.

Here are the close ups of my altered leaves.  I have the perfect spot for all six of theses and can't wait to show you this week!

We really enjoyed making these. If you don't have a sewing machine use a white ink pen, stamps or paint to doodle stitches instead. You can certainly use paper instead of fabric too.  Just make sure you use glue that dries clear.  EDIT:  A few of you have asked about preserving the leaf before you start. I imagine you could use the clear matte gel medium (Michael's) all over the leaf before you start.. Just let dry before you sew. Magnolia leaves are very thick and waxy. They were very easy to sew. I was making a seasonal project and was not too concerned about preserving these permanently. I used the leaves that had just fallen from our tree.  I did play with a fresh leaf too. It gave off a yummy smell and turned my thread green! lol

I have the perfect place to hang these six little creations (stay tuned!), but I also suggest you consider framing them or making a banner out of these.  For a banner, you could easily wrap the stems in wire or jute or glue small pieces of straw on the back and run your ribbon through for your banner. Get creative! Thanks for stopping by my friends.  I appreciate your comments and follows so much. xoxo