Monday, October 3, 2011

[Upcycle] Painted Leaves

The seed for this project was planted after The Mister, buried deep in the depths of our pantry, uttered these words "Hey, we have a ton of paper bags... Maybe you can make something with them?". Never one to pass up an opportunity to get my craft on, my wheels started spinning and I got to work.  Inspired by a kraft paper wreath and a book page vine, this Shimmery Leaf Vine sprung to life.


read more for the tutorial

[what you need]

several market paper bags : scissors : acrylic metallic paints : stapler :
foam or paint brush (not shown) : hot glue gun or white glue

 [the low down]

make a few simple leaf templates

for size reference:
 the smallest leaf is 4.5 inches from stem to tip
the largest leaf is 9 inches long from stem to tip

cut off the bottom of the bag. remove the handles and set aside.
using the bag's existing folds as a guide, fold the remaining bag accordion-style.
place the template on the center fold and cut out the leaf.

the fold works perfectly as the center vein of the leaf. 
i could comfortably cut out 3 leaves (of the same shape) at a time.
the "leaves" are painted with acrylic metallic paints (the same paints that i used on these burlap leaves).
a foam brush works great for smooth & full coverage. 
the paint dries quickly so after painting a few leaves, flip them over and paint the reverse side.

 
i used the bag's handles as the "stem" of the vine.
if your bag does not have handles, use the leftover bottom of the bag and cut it into 1 inch strips (fold if not sturdy enough).

the leaves are stapled onto the "vine". 
i overlapped the leaves to cover most of staples.  in a couple of areas, i used a dab of glue to ensure that the staples stay out of sight.

the vine is attached to our living room mantel with a couple of command strips.

it also makes a pretty table runner. 
and with smaller leaves, it'll make a great wreath that can be used year after year.

Unfortunately, I didn't make much of a dent in our paper bag population... Be prepared for more paper bag projects in the near future!



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p.s. The comments were erroneously wiped-out on this post.  My apologies!