How to make Autumn Leaf Bowls (Guest Post)

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Learn how to make leaf bowls with air drying clay, fired clay or even salt dough.  This is a great Autumn Crafts for Kids, but this great Leaf Craft can be made all year round. They are great Christmas Gifts Kids Can Make too! This is a guest post from Lori at Fun Art 4 Kids -she simply the most amazing kids craft blog.

How to make Autumn Leaf Bowls. Use REAL Leaves to make these stunning and easy Autumn Leaf Bowls. They can be fired in a kiln or you can use air drying clay. Such a fabulous Autumn Craft for kids and grown ups a like come and take a look how easy they are to make! #leafbowls #leaf #leaves #leafcrafts #leafdiy #autumn #fall
Note these lovely Autumn Leaf Bowls were first shared in October 2010 and have been republished for your convenience. They are one of our favourite leaf DIYs for fall!

Lori comes up with so many different fabulously cute ideas and sorts them by age groups, which makes it a really handy reference blog. PLEASE do go and take a look! She has VERY kindly agreed to share these FABULOUS leaf bowls with us. Although she says that these are for 4th graders, I think that these are for any age group. I simply adore them!

You may also like these fabulous Clay Leaf Magnets – great as a Thanksgiving decoration or small gift idea.

ALTERNATIVES to KILN:

Stock up on Air Drying Clay: US readers / UK readers (aff links)

  1. Lori suggest making them in a Kiln (as per the instructions below), but we had a go with airdrying clay (see our version at the very end of the post), it does mean that they are more fragile and the final “look” is different, but you can have a go at home!!!  I followed the instructions below. Let air dry for 3-4 days, painted it with acryclics (with Red Ted) and used an acryclic varnish for sealing. This makes it ornamental, rather than for use with food.

Stock up on Air Drying Clay: US readers / UK readers (aff links)

2. You can also make these using a salt dough recipe! Yes, salt dough. But remember that salt needs to dry a long time!

How to make Autumn Leaf Bowls. Use REAL Leaves to make these stunning and easy Autumn Leaf Bowls. They can be fired in a kiln or you can use air drying clay. Such a fabulous Autumn Craft for kids and grown ups a like come and take a look how easy they are to make! #leafbowls #leaf #leaves #leafcrafts #leafdiy #autumn #fall

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If you don’t have access to a kiln use the following materials to make Leaf Bowls:

(affiliate linked)

  • air drying clay (US/ UK)
  • acrylic paints (US/ UK)
  • varnish (US/ UK)
Leaf-Crafts-for-Fall
Wonderful Leaf Lanterns

Another FAVOURITE Leaf craft of ours are these Leaf Lanterns – be sure to check them out too!

Over to Lori:

How to make Leaf Bowls!

I love these fun fall leaves. They are quite easy to do if you are fortunate enough to have a kiln at your finger tips!

  1. Start with a fist sized lump of potters clay.  Review and complete wedging of the clay as usual (to prepare it from air bubbles, etc.) [for some tips on removing air bubbles from clay, see this post here]
  2. Simply roll the clay into 1/4″ slabs using rolling pins and two guide sticks which help you get an even result.
  3. Place a large leaf over the clay- facing up so that the veins are down.  You leaves as big as your hand- spread wide.  Roll the leaf twice to press the design into the clay.
  4. Use a sharp trimming tool (thin/long nails, an opened thick paper clip or better clay tools work well here) to cut the outline of the leaf shape.
  5. Smooth the rough edges with one finger and a bit of water.
  6. Lay some plastic wrap, a paper towel or a thin cotton cloth inside of a disposable paper bowl. Lay your clay leaf inside of the bowl and gently press it down to take its new shape.
  7. Dry for several days and kiln process as usual.
  8. I love to use Sax colorburst glazes for fantastic fall results!
Leaf print bowls made in the kiln

Have fun with this!

And here is mine, that I made with air drying clay & painted with acrylics, I let Red Ted paint it. On reflection we should have done a little “paint splashing” with a contrasting colour over the red, but I still think it looks nice:

How to make leaf bowls with air dry clay
kids crafts
Print

Easy Leaf Bowls

Learn how to make clay leaf bowls with leaf printing
Active Time30 minutes

Equipment

  • Air Dry Clay
  • A large leaf
  • Bowl
  • Cling film
  • Rolling pin
  • Knife
  • Paint (optional)

Instructions

  • Roll the clay into 1/4? slabs using rolling pins
  • Place a large leaf over the clay- facing up so that the veins are down. Go over with the rolling pin to make an imprint.
  • Use the knife to trim around the leaf.
  • Smooth the rough edges with one finger and a bit of water.
  • Lay some plastic wrap, a paper towel or a thin cotton cloth inside of a disposable paper bowl. Lay your clay leaf inside of the bowl and gently press it down to take its new shape.
  • Dry for several days and then paint (or place in kiln if you have one)

Video

Fancy some more Autumn Crafts for Kids?

autumn-crafts-for-kids-so-sweet

 Or how about these Leaf Crafts!!

20 Wonderful Leaf Crafts for Autumn - so many beautiful ideas here. Perfect for celebrating autumn or incorporating into your Thanksgiving decor and activities

Happy Crafting! Hope you enjoy our Autumn Maple Leaf Bowls using Real Leaves!