Make Stunning Art for Fall on a Budget


I like decorating for the seasons… especially Fall. Changing things up every little while not only brings a new energy into the space but excites me to bring the outdoors in.

As much as I like decorating for each season, I don’t want to spend a ton. I always try to come up with some new art that doesn’t cost much and reuses as many materials as possible.

{No! This ↓ is not the stunning art!!  Keep reading!}

old canvas art before repainting canvasI painted this picture quite a while ago at one of those art night evenings. Have you been to one? It was fun but I have never cared for the painting we made that night. It’s just not my style.

This Fall, I wanted to make some new art and instead of buying something, decided to reuse this canvas.  I gave it three coats of Fusion Mineral Paint in Casement to cover up the previous art.

If you don’t have a previous piece of art that you don’t want anymore, you can purchase a new blank canvas to create your art on.  wax paper and leavesA few of the leaves turned really early this year (and then we had a heatwave!) so I collected a few pretty Maple ones. You could also use fake ones if you don’t have real Maples in your area. preserving Maple leaves with wax paperTo get them ready, they were laid out on a piece of wax paper.

Be sure to lay them exactly how you want them to be once dried.  preserving leaves with wax paperUsing my iron on the hottest setting, I ironed the leaves for several minutes on each side.

Be sure to cover the wax paper with a plain sheet of paper before ironing or you will get melted wax on your iron! preserving Maple leaves with wax paperleaves pressed in waxOnce the leaves are cool, peel them off and you have a collection of nice crisp Fall leaves.

Be gentle with them as they will break easily once they are pressed.  drawing pencil branches before paintingTo make the art, I laid out the leaves in the general area I wanted them on the canvas and drew in my branches with a pencil.  painting branches on canvas with FAT paintOnce I had the branches drawn and leaves arranged, I painted them over with dark chocolate-brown paint.  attaching real leaves with spray adhesiveTo attach the leaves, spray each with spray adhesive, allow it to sit for a minute, and then stick it to the canvas.  attaching leaves to canvas with adhesive glue

Tracing autumn words onto Fall Art with Graphite PaperTo finish my new art, I added a little dictionary type description to the corner.  penciled in words for artLay the description over some graphite paper and trace over the letters. This will allow you to transfer them onto the canvas so you can paint them.  autumn words painted on canvasPaint over the words using the same brown paint that was used on the branches.  Autumn artFall art made with real leavesThis DIY Fall art is so easy to make that even someone who doesn’t fancy themselves an artist can do it!  And the best part? You can recycle an old canvas, collect some leaves from your yard, and for next to nothing have something new for Autumn.   Fall art with leaves with rustic basket lamp

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Make stunning Fall Art with Real Leaves

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Junk Into Gems

If you love turnings old things into something new, be sure to check out the Junk Into Gems Challenge. Each month we take the item of the month and repurpose and upcycle it into something new.
Find all of the details here…

2 Comments on " Make Stunning Art for Fall on a Budget "

  1. Lisa

    Very attractive looking, but I don’t see the dark chocolate brown paint you refer to.

    1. Lisa

      Hi Nancy, the chocolate brown paint I used was for the tree branches and the words in the corner. The name of that colour was Bitter Chocolate by FAT paint company.

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