Fun things to do with fall leaves

Let’s make sustainable crafts with some readily-available nature bits - like fall leaves! They’re so beautiful, and part of what makes them so - outside of the fact that each one is unique like a snowflake and the colors are captivating beyond what our own, limited minds could ever mix - is that they are temporary. Fall leaves literally dance on the wind to delicately find rest on the forest floor (or your lawn or garden bed or whatever) to rot. We cannot preserve this moment of their beauty indefinitely. They change, like us. In fact, nature needs them to rot. It’s part of their very spiritual job.

The other day at elementary school pickup, I watched a Harley and flames-clad grandmother pick up fall leaves from the grass, studying each one carefully before replacing it to be crunched by an assuming 7-year-old’s tennis shoe. I was inspired by her presence in the present. She showed up mindfully that day, in a way that no one else in the schoolyard did. And I’d love it if we could all take a moment to step outside and scoop up a few of our favorite leaves and collect them in a precious, little pile. And then make another something beautiful, an engaging craft from a temporary masterpiece of nature that is fated for obliteration.

Will you join me?

How to make Leafy Paper Dolls [1]:

When I saw this one, I gasped. It’s so damn sweet.

Materials:

Leaves and petals

Paper

Scissors

Markers

Masking Tape

Instructions:

1. Draw a doll on your paper (about 6” tall) and cut it out.
2. Make the doll’s hair by cutting a bangs-shaped notch into one of the leaves. (See the pic in the link at the bottom of this post.) Insert the paper doll’s head into the notch.
3. Arrange a few leaves or petals to form a skirt, and attach with rolled masking tape.
4. Cut a tiny shirt out of a leaf to fit your paper doll’s torso.
5. Make as many outfits as you like, and dress your darling doll until her clothes crumble to tiny, little pieces and go back to the earth. Crafting perfection.

How to make Leaf Lanterns [2]:

Most magical fall leaf craft.

Materials: 

Smallish fall leaves

Grease-proof paper, preferably white (parchment paper, wax paper, etc.)

A small box or jar, to hold the shape of the lantern

Glue

Scissors

Wire or strings, and a stick

Electric tea lights or candles, depending on how concerned you are on the safety front

Instructions:

1. Cut 2 sheets of paper to fit around the base of your box or jar.
2. Lay one of the sheets of paper on the floor, add glue, and attach leaves. (Leave some space for the light to glow through!)
3. Add more glue and attach the other sheet of paper on top of the one with leaves glued to it. If you have the time and space, place something heavy on top and let it dry for an hour.
4. Take your box/jar and glue the leaf paper around it.
5. Attach wires or string to the top, so that you can hang your lantern from your stick.
6. Add your light inside and take in the magical glow.

This final activity is not a craft, it’s a simple exercise in mindfulness.

Make a pile of leaves for your garden friends in an unused area of your yard. Watch the pile change over the season, and imagine the tiny critters using the leaf pile for the multitude of things tiny creatures use leaf piles for: food, shelter, fun…heck, you could go out there and ask them what they’re using it for. If you wait patiently and quietly, you just might hear them answer. Because answer, they will.

[1] https://craftymessymom.com/2021/11/15/autumn-leaf-crafts/

[2] https://www.redtedart.com/leaf-lanterns/