Leaf Prints...Pillowcases and T-Shirts

Ever since we put up L's "big girl bed" a couple months ago I've been looking for the perfect pillow sham. I finally decided, "Why not just make one!?" And that's exactly what we did today! I love the outcome...it turned out even better than I imagined it would! The pillow cover will last for years and we can always look back on this perfect Autumn day. We followed it up by making some matching Fall shirts for the girls as well! 

Pillow Cover

Materials needed:

-pillowcase, ironed if needed

-a few scraps of cardboard

-paper towels

-acrylic paints 

-brushes and palettes (we use old, plastic lids)

-leaves

Before you start painting, prepare your area. You'll need a piece of cardboard to paint the leaves on top of and a piece of cardboard to slide into the middle of the pillowcase, so no paint seeps through. If the cardboard inside the pillowcase is ridged, you may want to add an old, silicone cutting board or piece of card stock underneath as well. You wouldn't want the ridges to effect the leaf prints. 

Starting with the larger of your leaves, paint the underside of the leaf and then carefully press it onto the pillowcase. Repeat with different colors, different shades and different sizes until you're happy with your final project. We started with various shades of orange and then added a few reds, yellows and greens. Likewise, we started with large leaves and ended with a few tiny ones. 

T-Shirts

Materials needed:

-t-shirts, ironed if needed

-a few scraps of cardboard

-paper towels

-acrylic paints 

-brushes and palettes (we use old, plastic lids)

-leaves

You will basically make leaf prints onto your t-shirt in a similar manner as with the pillowcase above. The only difference is that you'll want smaller cardboard pieces to slide into the shirt and one really narrow piece to slide into the sleeve. As you can see, after printing leaves on the center of the shirt I added one tiny, falling leaf to the sleeve. 

Cute, huh!? And easy! What else will you make leaf prints on? I think an Autumn table runner would be beautiful as well! There are so many possibilities! Enjoy!