Evie Creates • Watercolor Leaf Garland

Ok, so this is such a simple project that you people are probably wondering why I bothered writing a tutorial, but I know there are probably some Mama's out there who are struggling to find craft projects for their toddlers to do, so I thought I would share. Evie is at an awkward in between stage when it comes to crafts - she's too young to understand that we are actually trying to make something, that there is an end goal to this painting and that it is not okay to stick the paint-filled brush in Mom's eye. Or hair. But she's too old to sit at home and do nothing all day, so I thought this would be a good compromise.

We started out by painting sheets of paper with watercolors. I really wasn't ready for the mess that would ensue if I let Ev have her way with the entire palette of watercolors, so I would put the paint on the brush, using only fall colors, then hand it to her. If your child is a little older or you don't have a theme in mind, you could let them at it, unsupervised. I did a little experimenting with a white crayon and scribbled a few leaf shapes for Ev to find while she was painting. I did some leaf rubbings with the white crayon too, but they didn't show up as well as I had hoped. We ended up with two sheets of Ev's and two sheets of striped colors that I had made, which was a perfect mix of different textures for the garland.

After the paint had dried, I folded it over itself and cut it into fourths, then cut out the larger leaf shape. Once I had gotten that one perfect, I laid it over the other quarter of the painting and used as a stencil, cutting out the other large leaves. I folded the next sheet into eighths, did the same thing for the medium sized, and cut the small leaves from the scraps. Don't stress about it - they don't have to be perfect! Next, I laid out all of the pieces and put each set together, choosing contrasting patterns and textures, then laid them on top of each other and punched a hole in the top. I used embroidery string to tie the individual groups of leaves together and left a bow, but you could potentially use double sided tape and stick them together, then string them along. You could also use yarn or twine - I just had embroidery thread laying around. I have never embroidered anything, so that fact bamboozles me.

Once you have each group of leaves together, thread your string/yard/twine through the holes, tying it around the top of each set so that they won't slide back and forth and end up on top of each other when you hang it up. You can make it as long or short, fancy or simple as you want! Then find a place in your home that needs a little fall spiff and display your garland for you and your little one to see every day! Have fun!

Have you done any fun fall crafts with your kids lately? I would love some more suggestions, so feel free to leave a link below!

I linked up with the Keep Calm, Craft On link party over at Frontier Dreams. Head over there and check out some of the other projects other bloggers have going on!