Sparkle Crafts: Sunny Leaf Art
In this week’s Martin & Sylvia: Saturdays! story, “Tree Key,” brother and sister work on making a key to help identify trees, even when they’ve lost their leaves. While many trees are without their greenery this time of year – as Martin and Sylvia noticed – not all trees lose their greenery with the approaching winter.
No matter what autumn looks like near you, you can do this project! If, like Martin and Sylvia, your trees are bare – you’ll need to hunt a little harder. If there’s still a lot of greenery around, it’ll be no problem finding interesting nature bits and bobs to use for your sun prints.
You Will Need
Leaves and Needles
Construction Paper
Exacto Knife
Sun Art Paper
Stiff Cardboard
9 x 13 Baking Dish
Water
Lemon Juice (optional)
What To Do
Like so many good projects, this one starts with a nature walk. Take a little gander around your area and notice the greenery. Think about what might make a good print.
While you’re gathering the greenery, notice the trees or plants it is coming from. Do you know the name of the tree or plant? If not, how could you find out?
Using a craft knife, on a proper cutting surface, cut out the names of the plants or trees that you found with construction paper. Make sure the dimensions of the name, or individual letters, will fit on your sun print paper.
Once you’ve got the letters or word to match your leaves or needles, you’re all set to start setting up your print. In a dimly lit room in your home, remove one sheet of sun paper. Set it atop a rigid surface and arrange the items for your print on top. If your sun art paper came with an acrylic sheet, place that on top to help hold everything in place.
Carefully walk your arranged print to a sunny spot outside. Following the directions with your paper, let your print expose. You’ll notice the blue getting lighter.
Once your print is finished, you’ll need to remove the words and leaves from the paper, and rinse it in a baking dish filled with cool water. For an even brighter print, add a teaspoon of lemon juice to the water.
Explore More
What can you do with your prints? make a book? frame them? There are so many possibilities!
What if you don’t include the name of the plant on the print – will you still be able to identify what tree they came from? Why? Why not?
About the Authors
Andrea Folsom
Andrea Folsom describes herself as a writer, editor, creative maker, and eternal optimist. She is passionate about learning and sharing new creative techniques, making beautiful spaces, and talking about the social-emotional benefits of creativity and art. She runs Crafting Connections - a website providing inspiration, practical advice, and projects for creative families - with her close friend Danielle Reiner.
Danielle Reiner
Danielle Reiner describes herself as a creative, a maker, and a mama. At the heart of her story is creativity, though that hasn’t always been the case. She rediscovered her deeply hidden creativity early in adulthood – with a ball of yarn and a couple of knitting needles – and hasn't stopped since. Danielle also runs Crafting Connections - a website providing inspiration, practical advice, and projects for creative families - with her close friend Andrea Folsom.
