LR Peterlee Town Council Autumn 2021 - Flipbook - Page 25
Arts & Crafts
DIY Leaf Bowl
Here at Peterlee Town Council, we love
nothing more than seeing the grounds
and surrounding areas layered with
colourful Autumn leaves. This leaf bowl
project is a lovely way to preserve
them and bring some Autumn feels into
your home or to make it as a gi for
someone special.
Why not try this simple autumn cra"? It
will take some paTence and can be
Iddly at Tmes but is completely worth
the end results!
How to make your leaf bowl:
1. Prepare your leaves:
• Press your leaves as soon as you have
gathered them. If you leave it to the
next day, they will already be crisping
and curling, and their colour will be
fading rapidly.
• Our Tp is to place your leaves
(ensuring you leave gaps) onto pieces
of kitchen roll and sandwiching this
between two sheets of card. Perch a
book on top of them to help weigh
them down. This will quicken the
process meaning you won’t have to
press them for weeks on end and will
be ready for you to start your bowl
within around 10 days of pressing
them.
2. Make your leaf bowl:
• Once your leaves have been pressed,
lay them out and choose the ones
which have no blemishes, cracks or
nibbled areas and carefully snip o6
the stems.
• Find a bowl the right size for your
leaves, a deep round soup bowl was
used for the example in the image.
• Cover your bowl with a layer of cling
Ilm and then paste all over the cling
Ilm with a layer of slightly watered
down PVA glue / white glue.
• Press a layer of leaves onto the gluey
cling Ilm, cover with another layer of
Ilm and wrap around Tghtly.
• Leave overnight. This allows the
leaves to so"en and mould to the
shape of your bowl. Leaves can be
quite the drama queen and if Tme
isn’t given to allow them to so"en
and mould, they will just unfold and
fall o6 your creaTon.
Autumn
Word
Scramble
• Remove the top layer of cling Ilm
and brush the leaves with a layer of
undiluted glue.
• Carefully choose your next layer of
leaves, overlapping the Irst layer and
thinking about colour and shape as
you go. With this layer remove the
stalks and cut a V shape into the leaf
where they had been to make them
more malleable and to stop them
misbehaving.
• Press them onto your gluey leaves
and coat them in turn with a layer of
glue.
• Cover again with a Tght layer of cling
Ilm and leave for a few hours or
overnight.
• Remove the outer layer of cling Ilm,
brush with another layer of glue for
good measure and leave to dry.
• Once the glue is dry, take your leaf
bowl o6 your mould and carefully
remove the cling Ilm from inside your
masterpiece. This can be quite tricky!
Cut down the cling Ilm and remove it
slowly so you don’t break the fragile
Tps o6 the leaves. I found it easier to
pull up from the centre of the bowl
rather than pull down into it.
• As you remove the last bits of cling
Ilm you may realise that Tny bits of
glue and cling Ilm get le" behind.
You might be tempted to trim them
o6 but if you hold the bowl up to the
light, you will noTce they look just
like small ice crystals on a winter leaf.
You may wish to trim them or leave
them on. We will leaf that decision up
to you!!
1. alef
6. robnw
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2. tgusy
7. recnok
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3. orsercwac
8. nira
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4. tetnurbut qhassu
9. kear
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5. nutmau
10. groane
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Answers: 1. leaf, 2. gusty, 3. scarecrow, 4. bu+ernut squash, 5. autumn, 6. brown, 7. conker, 8. rain, 9. rake, 10 orange
Peterlee 25
