DIY Fall Decorations - Leaf Bowl

Fall has been here for a while now, but to me there is a quite a difference between Halloween decorations and Fall Decorations. In my house we put up the Halloween decorations in October and take them down right after the 31st. Then, goes up the fall decorations. This is the leaves and plain pumpkins, gourds and harvest themed attire. While Halloween decorations are usually fun and creepy I try to make my Fall decorations a bit more classy because I host our family's Thanksgiving every year.

Now, we all know I like to save money and make things at home when possible so this year I am making my fall decorations myself. There was an earlier post of decorations made by my munchkins, you can find that here. But now I need something classier to dress up the house with. So, I made leaf bowls. These are gorgeous bowls, to add to any table or shelf, made from leaves.

Completed leaf bowl, ready to be displayed.

I encourage you to use natural leaves from outside, but here in Florida leaves that aren't fronds are difficult to find. So, we went to the dollar store and bought some autumn bouquets on sale and cut them apart (very cheap substitute).  

To complete this project you will need the following:

Leaves

Bowl

Wax Paper

Mod Podge/ Glue

Brush

First, I would recommend covering your work space in either newspaper or pieces of scrap paper. This makes for a quicker and easier cleanup. Collect your supplies in one area, so that you aren't hunting around for anything in the middle of your project. 

Next, cover the bowl you are using as a mold with wax paper. (I was out of wax paper so I used clingwrap :/ lol it worked fine for my purposes. It just stuck a bit to the leaves making some spots a little shinier than others). Wax paper is your best option because the glue won't stick to it, only to your leaves.

Take your leaves, place them on the bowl and cover them in glue. I used Mod Podge but regular Elmers glue will work just fine. It's not necessary to glue the part you are placing down, just the top. We want the leaves to stick to each other, not the bowl or wax paper. Be sure to cover the entire side of the leaf with glue to make sure it molds to the position you want and to stick to other leaves. 

Glue leaves down.

Layer the leaves slightly to make sure they stick to one another and  cover any gaps. Your bowl won't stick together well if there are spaces in between the leaves. Cover to bowl with as big or as little as you'd like your bowl to be.

I wanted a fairly decent sized bowl so I used a larger bowl and covered most of it. Once you're done gluing the leaves set it in a level, dry area where it will not be disturbed. Let it dry for at least 12 hours. If it still seems sticky or you still see white continue to let it dry.

Once it is all dry, gently peal the wax paper off. Peal the paper away slowly, the leaves may try to stick in some places, gently work the area to avoid the paper tearing and sticking to your leaves or to have your leaves pull away from the collection. When the paper is all off you have a beautiful leaf bowl to show off. 

Side view of completed leaf bowl. I would recommend only filling with light objects. Anything heavy might distort the shape and make it flatten.

My bowl is a little shinier than it normally is due to the fact that I used cling wrap and a thin layer of that remained with the bowl. It is hardly detectable however so if this is your only option go for it!

DIY Weed Blocker - Newspaper

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! No more black plastic!!

One thing I hate seeing in gardens it that black plastic. Sure it will help prevent weeds from growing in your garden for a period of time, but it has so many more cons than it does pros. It will not compost, that means it will sit there forever, until it gets moved to a landfill and then it will sit there forever. Weeds may not be able to push through but your plants can't either. There are many types of spreading plants that won't be able to do their job if plastic is used. It's ugly. When the mulch on top of your plastic starts to compost (and it will) it turns to soil making a nice little spot for weeds to grow ON TOP of your plastic. 

TA-DA!!!

Use newspaper as a weed deterrent in your garden instead of black plastic.

Newspaper is a great alternative to black plastic. It's a thick enough layer that weeds can't push their way through but sturdier plants can. Most people recycle this anyway, why not recycle it the most natural way there is? Give it back to the earth. The newspaper will start to compost after some time. Not only does this help the environment but it helps your garden by adding nutrients to the soil. Your plants will eat it up! The newspaper will hold water as well, so it's like an extra layer of mulch.

I can hear you now thinking "But if it composts don't I have to replace it?" Why yes, yes you do. But you have to replace top soil and mulch in your garden seasonally as well. You would of had to fix that plastic after it was tore up and moved around. Just replace the newspaper seasonally with your average garden work. Instead of adding layer on top of layers of trash to your garden, you will be adding layer on top of layer of compost and nutrients. 

If you live in a particularly windy area (shout-out to Kansas!) and having a difficult time getting the newspaper to stay put while you work with it try this helpful tip. Wet the paper down first. Wet newspaper is heavier and and molds to the ground easier. 

If want to be even more eco-friendly and give your garden an extra boost, use grass clippings as mulch on top of the newspaper.

What are some of your experiences with using newspaper in your garden? Share them in the comments below!

Happy Birthday Marine Corps

I'm sure it's many people's birthday today but there is one special birthday I would like to bring attention to. The Marine Corps 239th birthday. My father was a marine some years ago and I know that those ideals and notions still run through him today. He was a marine then and is a marine now, and I know that the same is true for many other men and women around the country. So, today I would like to honor those who have served in the past and are serving today. Happy birthday and Semper Fi.

Festive Fall Crafts - Free Art

So, you're sitting at home with your munchkins thinking. . . what can we do today? In most parts of the country it's getting a bit chilly outside; and while outside play is always encouraged some days you just feel like staying warm or don't want to spend more than an hour at the park. That's okay! Trust me, we've all been there. So what are some things you can do with your tots that doesn't take a whole lot of effort? I have this amazing activity that we do on our "lazy days." It takes no preparations and no effort AND keeps the kiddos busy for as long as their imagination can stand. It's called free art. Yup, that's it. That's my lazy day mom secret. Free Art.

Free art is when you give your children tools and supplies and let their creative sides take over. Personally, we have buckets for our art supplies, before that we had it all in plastic bags for easy storage, that's fine. Whatever you and your family can afford is wonderful, there is no need to go out and get every fancy item you can find. For basic free art, I give my kids a few buckets of supplies and some paper and say 'have fun!' Will there be a mess? Probably. Will they have fun? Most definitely. Is the mess cleanable? Yes, yes it is. Is it worth it? Absolutely.

I hear moms say all they time - "I'm not creative enough to do art at home." Hold up! Your creativity has nothing to do with it. The only people that need to be creative, are the ones doing the art (or craft. These words are used and interchanged frequently in my posts). All that's required of you is to give them the tools and perhaps some guidance now and then.

We've done two free art sessions in my house in the last two weeks. The first was for some fun and to take up time, the second was for fall decorations. For the first free art session, I gave Tig and Bug a couple pieces of paper and two buckets of stickers; the stickers were a mixture of foam and regular stickers. One bucket was specifically Halloween themed stickers and the other buckets was Thanksgiving and Fall stickers. That's it. That's all I did. That's all I gave them. And you know what? They had a blast!!

Tig and Bug creating sticker collages.

 There are some advantages to this activity that the kids have no idea about and don't need to know about, but are great mom wins!

• It's an art project. They get their creative juices flowing.
• It takes fine motor skills to pick up the stickers, peel the stickers and place the stickers.
• It takes up time.
• The mess is easily cleanable (much easier than paint).
• They have options. They can create a story or a collage.
• You have bonding time, when they tell you about their artwork.
• This activity can be done with ANY age. Big is four and Tig is not yet two.
• Learning through play!! (See tips at the end of post)

Bug's masterpiece of art.

Tig's masterpiece of art.

The second time we did free art was today. We are starting to decorate our house for Thanksgiving and are lacking some decorations. Making decorations at home has two purposes. 1. We save money. 2. I would much rather hang something made by my children than any multi-billion store.

The creative juices are flowing!!!

So, for this free art project I gave them a goal. Make something to hang up for Thanksgiving. I gave them foam pieces, sequins, pom-pom balls, stickers and glue and let them have at it. The results were and hour of laughs and stories and two pieces of decoration I couldn't be more proud of (pictured at end of post).

******TIPS*****

• We have a lot of craft supplies that have built of over the years here at home. It is not necessary to have everything listed here to have a great time with your children. Most of our supplies have been bought when they go on clearance. You can make free art with anything. Printer paper, puzzles that are missing pieces, ribbon, yarn, leaves from outside - anything you can think of.
• Be sure to ask your children open ended questions about their art!!!! This is how your bonding happens and how learning through play begins. Ask them - "Tell me about what your working on." "Why did you put that there?" "What's the story here?" "How did you do that?" Talk about the turkeys, pumpkins and acorns. Talk about Thanksgiving and fall. This is how they learn. They learn through experiencing and hands on activities. They learn through interacting with you. Talking about the leaves while doing a craft with them is a natural conversation that they will remember. It will shock you later with just how much they actually retained when you're taking a walk with them a week later and they tell you why the trees are losing their leaves. 

Bug's Thanksgiving wreath.

Tig's Fall Decoration

Share in the comments some of your fall free art experiences and activities. Did your little one learn anything? Did you learn anything? What are some creations that came about from this activity?