Saturday, October 2, 2010

Leaf Spirits!


I've been dreaming of these little leaf spirits all week!  I wanted to come up with a sweet little craft that was simple, enchanting and that evoked the magic of Autumn.  Bring forth the leaf spirits.  As I was making these, Ruby says to me, "I think I've seen these falling from the trees before."  
I just think they capture the magic of this season...I know I've always been captivated by this time of year and can't help but feel the "magic" in the air as the trees change colour and the leaves shower down from the canopy overhead!

To make some leaf spirits of your own you will need:
wool felt in Autumn colours (red, orange, yellow, brown)
wool roving (in matching colours)
pipe cleaners
small wooden beads, (mine are 3/4 inch)
glue gun
acorn cap, (optional)
thread for hanging


To start...trace a leaf shape onto your felt, cut 2 of these shapes.  I cut off the stem bit and shaped it like a "u" to make a neckline.


Take your pipecleaner...about 5 inches or so long, and fold it in half.  Using hot glue, glue it down to the backside of one of your leaves. 

Using more hot glue, glue your bead onto the top of the pipecleaner and then glue the leaves together...sandwiching the pipecleaner in between.

Glue on some roving for hair and top with an acorn cap!  I tied my string to the top of the acorn cap so I could hang these lovely leaf spirits up to be enjoyed!


And there you have it...some lovely little leaf spirits.  I'm sure if you let your imagination lead you, you could come up with some delightful stories about these "spirits" and the adventures they have.  Here's a little story to get you started called The Anxious Leaf.  It's one story that captures how a leaf may "feel" when it's time to fall from the tree.  And here's another little gem of a story from Reg Down called The Life of a Leaf which follows a leaf on its journey.  I hope these offer some inspiration!


In the "spirit" of Autumn!
xo maureen 

17 comments:

  1. These are wonderful and capture the spirit of the season perfectly. Thank you for sharing this!

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  2. These are just perfect! Simple yet beautiful - thank you for sharing. We are making these today or tomorrow.
    Warm wishes, Tonya

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  3. Love it! Now I need to go find some acorn caps!

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  4. So cute and simple, so even the littles can be involved in the creative process. Those are the best kinds of crafts! Thanks for sharing these!
    ~Rachel

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  5. Love them and totally making some for/with my girls!!

    xoxo
    MaryLea
    (pink and green mama)

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  6. they are so lovely, we will certainly be making some of these.
    thank you much for the inspiration
    warmly,
    Christina

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  7. They are great! If you dont mind I am going to make some Spring versions of these with my kids, I will link back to your idea here of course :)

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  8. I absolutely love these!! My plans to make them didn't quite work out, but I linked to you in my post about it today. Thanks for sharing so much inspiration!

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  9. Oh I love these. We have collected so many acorns on our walks and I was looking for more ways to use them. Adorable!

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  10. These are so sweet and precious! I'll have to remember this for next fall. My favorite time of year too.

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  11. Absolutely precious!
    My earth school children will love to make these!

    happy day!

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