How to Make Rusty Leaves

by Country Design Style-Jeanette

3 Materials

$20

20 Minutes

Easy

Living in mountains of Arizona, I needed a way to make my own autumn leaves. I can walk outside and find a truck load of pine cones, but autumn leaves...not so much.
So here's what I did to have beautiful autumn leaves using dollar store faux { fake} leaves.
This does require special paints. I buy mine on Amazon. It's cheaper for me than driving 85 miles to our nearest craft store.

how to make rusty leaves, crafts, how to

I started with a one dollar bunch of dollar type store fall leaves. You can leave the leaves on the stems...but I cut mine off with scissors. I'm adding them to display bowls on the coffee table and around the mantel.

Next, paint the leaf with the iron paint and let dry completely. The paint contains bits of iron. The leaf will be iron black. At this point, I could have stopped and used the leaves for my brother rock band display! :)

Next, an activator is applied. I also buy this on Amazon. The activator is blue in color and watery. As the activator dries, the iron paint turns rusty. I have a video on the website showing the steps live.

Here are the dried leaves, ready to display. Less mess than those real autumn leaves. Plus they are ready anytime next year. If can paint the back side of the leaves if you want to display them in a vase.

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2 comments

Christy bellinger on Sep 04, 2016
That's pretty cool, they look just like the real thing!! Great idea, thanks for sharing!!

1 Reply
- Country Design Style-Jeanette on Sep 05, 2016
  Thank you, Christy. I like that they don't make a mess. Plus if you live in an area with great leaves you don't have to wait for them to turn to start decorating. As well, they last for years.
  
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