Top 5 Things You Can Do With Autumn Leaves

If you're an arts and crafts type person, you're looking for anything you can use to make that next great creation. Given the season of autumn, not only do you have objects but you also have color to work with... which is more than you can say for any other season. The biggest thing you can utilize this autumn are the leaves that'll fall.

Autumn leaves come in an array of colors - green, red, yellow, and orange primarily. They're free to collect and usually ready to use. You may have to do a bit to make them craft-ready, but if you don't mind collecting them before they turn into the brown, crusty stage, then you have a winner in an object that can be used for your crafty needs.

Let's think of some things you can create using autumn leaves:

1. Make leaf mulch for your yard.

This is actually pretty easy to do. What it entails is that you take the leaves and chop them up. I'd recommend using the colored leaves before they get brown and crunchy. According to the project you can use a chipper shredder, a lawn mower, or a weed whacker in a trash can to chop up your leaves. Once they're chopped up, layer them about two to three levels thick to get a beautiful color display and a great eye-catcher for your lawn.

For other ways to recycle your autumn leaves click on this link.

2. Make an autumn leaf bracelet.

First, grab some leaves to use for your bracelet. Getting a variety of colors will make the bracelet more colorful. Get some thick thread and a needle. Put the thread through the eye of the needle. After that you thread the leaves with the needle until you have enough leaves to go around your wrist. If you want, you can add other items to your bracelet including food, candy, or beads. In about a month or so you'll want to throw the bracelet away as the leaves will begin to get messy and if you have food on there it won't hold up.

For more information about this project, click here.

3. Fill a clear glass vase with them and use it as decoration.

You can buy a clear glass vase from a florist or a local grocer. Once you've found the design that you want, all you need to do is gather some leaves and place them inside the vase until you've reached the top of the vase. You can also insert some artificial flowers inside the vase along with the leaves to make for a colorful floral display.

4. Make a wreath out of the leaves.

Purchase a wreath base from your local craft store and then gather the leaves and glue them to the wreath base. You can also include autumn fruits such as cranberries or various seeds to give the wreath a tastier look. Hang it over the door or in your home above a mantle to show off to your guests.

For more do-it-yourself projects using autumn leaves, click here.

5. Create a dinner table centerpiece.

This might be beautiful if you can preserve it until Thanksgiving, or perhaps it might be something you can utilize for Halloween. Consider when you're carving out your pumpkin and removing the pulp that after the scary face is no longer of use that you can cut out the face and use the middle to store colorful autumn leaves and perhaps a candle that brings out the colors of the leaves. For the next two to three weeks this could become the centerpiece of your dinnertable.

Sources:

http://www.suite101.com/blog/cottage_garden/recycle_autumn_leaves

http://www.essortment.com/hobbies/autumnleaveski_sauz.htm

http://www.doityourself.com/stry/autumnleavesproject