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.
Fall Craft
You will need:
- Free leaf printable
- Watercolors, brush and water
- Black glue – white glue + black paint (find recipe in post)
- Salt
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.
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.
My kids were determined to stay within the leaf outline but this is certainly not necessary.
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.
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.
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?
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!
The black glue adds a raised texture that reminds me of stained glass.
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!
If you liked this Fall craft, you’ll love:
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Mari Corona says
Love it a must share!!!
Vicky @ Mess For Less says
Thanks so much Mari!
Tami says
This is awesome! I'm going to try it with my day care kids this week.
Christina K says
What kind of black paint? Acrylic?
Vicky @ Mess For Less says
I used black tempera paint. There is a link in the post if you want to see the kind I used.
Stacy says
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! 🙂
Donna says
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.
Vicky says
Great idea Donna. I would love to see how that turned out.