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  • Hi, I'm Vicky, the founder and content creator at Mess For Less. If you are looking for family-friendly recipes, recipes that kids can make, and play and learning activities for kids, you will find them at Mess For Less. I invite you to learn more about me. Thanks for stopping by!

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    Home » Crafts

    Fall Craft - Black Glue and Salt Leaves

    Published: Sep 15, 2014 · Modified: May 24, 2022 by Vicky · This post contains affiliate links.

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    We have been on a Fall Craft kick here at Mess for Less. Recently, we made these Fall Leaves Window Stickers and they are still adorning our front window. As part of that project, I created a fall leaf printable. I loved how the printable turned out and I wanted to be able to use it again for another activity. I remember how we had made Fall Leaves Using Black Glue in the past and decided to make them again but add a twist by using my leaf printable and adding salt. If you have never used salt with watercolors before, your kids will love the textured art created when you combine the two. We used a similar process when we made Black Glue and Salt Watercolor Rainbows. I just love how these Black Glue and Salt Leaves turned out.

    Black Glue and Salt Leaves fall craft - get your free leaf printable and make these gorgeous, textured Fall decorations.

    Fall Craft

    You will need:

    • Free leaf printable
    • Watercolors, brush and water
    • Black glue - white glue + black paint (find recipe in post)
    • Salt
    fall craft supplies

    For this Fall craft, you will need to print out this free leaf printable. Once you have done that, it's time to make your black glue. Black glue is simply a mix of white glue and black paint. Empty your glue bottle so it's only half full. Then add some squirts of black paint. Use enough black paint to fill up an additional quarter of the glue bottle. Shake the mixture until it is totally combined.

    Outline the leaves on the leaf printable using the black glue and allow to dry. I let ours dry outside and they took about 3 hours. Make sure you allow plenty of time for the black glue to dry before starting the painting.

    leaves with black glue

    Provide your child with watercolors, a brush and some water. Before we started, we discussed what color leaves we typically see in Fall. My kids decided their favorite kinds of leaves were those that had various colors on them.

    painted paper leaves

    My kids were determined to stay within the leaf outline but this is certainly not necessary.

    painting leaves

    Anytime you work with paint, there is the chance to learn a little bit about color mixing. My daughter was thrilled when she was able to make a maroon color by mixing the red and brown.

    water color painting

    The next step is to add the salt. You will want to be sure the painting is still wet before adding the salt. If parts of the painting have dried already, have your child go over it again with a wet brush.

    shaking salt on painting

    I find this step the easiest using a salt shaker. You will get salt on your table and if your kids are anything like mine, they will be dipping their fingers in that table salt and licking it. Pretty gross huh?

    fall craft

    When the watercolor paint dries, you can shake the excess salt off the painting. What remains will be these textured leaves which almost appear to be frosted. So pretty!

    salt on leaf painting

    The black glue adds a raised texture that reminds me of stained glass.

    salt on leaf painting

    You can display the leaves as is, or you can cut them out and glue them to some colored paper. Either way, these black glue and salt leaves make a fun Fall decoration!

    fall art

    If you liked this Fall craft, you'll love:

                                                                           15 Fall Crafts for Kids

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Vicky

      October 05, 2015 at 12:20 pm

      Great idea Donna. I would love to see how that turned out.

    2. Donna

      October 03, 2015 at 9:27 am

      I really like this idea and also your window stickers. Have you ever tried combining the two ideas. I'm thinking about doing this project but on the contact paper and sticking on the windows after.

    3. Stacy

      November 07, 2014 at 3:08 pm

      We did this today and it was so much fun! I skipped the salt because my 2 year old was a little too excited about spreading it around. Ha, ha! 🙂

    4. Vicky @ Mess For Less

      October 31, 2014 at 5:22 pm

      I used black tempera paint. There is a link in the post if you want to see the kind I used.

    5. Christina K

      October 31, 2014 at 3:04 pm

      What kind of black paint? Acrylic?

    6. Tami

      September 28, 2014 at 9:16 pm

      This is awesome! I'm going to try it with my day care kids this week.

    7. Vicky @ Mess For Less

      September 22, 2014 at 4:59 pm

      Thanks so much Mari!

    8. Mari Corona

      September 15, 2014 at 2:25 pm

      Love it a must share!!!

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    Hi, I'm Vicky, the founder and content creator at Mess For Less. If you are looking for family-friendly recipes, recipes that kids can make, and play and learning activities for kids, you will find them at Mess For Less. I invite you to learn more about me. Thanks for stopping by!

    Valentine's Day Activities and Recipes

    • Valentine’s Dessert Cheese Ball
    • Valentine's Brownie Cake Pops
    • Valentine's Chocolate Covered Pretzels
    • Valentine Ideas for Kids - Glitter Hearts

    Winter Activities

    • Q-Tip Painted Snowman Craft
    • Winter Shaving Cream Paint
    • Pinecone Snowman Craft
    • Melted Snowman Craft

    Popular Recipes

    • Crack Chicken Casserole
    • Overnight Egg Casserole
    • Toasted Italian Sandwich - Food Fun Friday
    • Chicken Broccoli Alfredo Bake

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