The colors of fall are warm and cheerful. Capture these colors with this stained glass-like decoration that is created using recycled crayons! Combine the craft with a walk through the woods for an enjoyable fall afternoon.
This craft project is great for family, classroom or group craft time.
Read through the project and gather the materials needed to create the stained glass leaves. If you are doing this craft with a group, pre-cutting the black construction paper and wax paper will make the craft go faster—two squares of each per person.
Tip: Gather the leaves in advance by walking through the neighborhood or a nearby park or ask each person to bring their favorite leaves.
Cut two squares of black construction paper and two slightly smaller squares of wax paper. Squares that are 5" to 7" in size work best.
Using the pencil, trace around a leaf onto one piece of black construction paper. Use a leaf that fits well within the paper with a nice border around it. Pick a leaf that won’t crumble when traced. Placing the leaf on a diagonal gives a nice look.
Tip: If you don't have a leaf to trace, use this printable Leaf Pattern.
Cut out the leaf center of the paper and discard. Be sure not to cut through the border. Place this square on top of the other black construction paper square and trace the leaf, then cut. Important: Be sure the cut-out leaf centers of the two squares match.
Use scissors or a plastic knife to shave pieces of crayons onto one piece of wax paper. Use one or two fall colors. Place the other wax paper square on top.
Use a warm iron to melt the crayons between the wax paper. Use the brown paper bag to protect the iron and ironing board. First, open the brown paper bag flat. Place the wax paper on the bag and fold the bag over to sandwich the wax paper, then iron to melt the crayon. Ironing requires adult supervision!
Glue the colorful wax paper square between the two pieces of black paper with leaf cutouts. Trim the wax paper square to fit, if needed, and be sure the two leaf cutouts match up.
Hang the completed square in a window for the full stained glass effect. Make a hanger by taping a loop of string or thread to one corner of the square.
Other ideas: This craft technique can be used with other crayon colors and other shapes. For Christmas or Chanukah, use yellows and oranges with a flame shape. For Valentine's Day, use reds with a heart shape. Pastel colors and egg shapes are great for Easter. What other ideas do you have?
That's it! Where will you hang
your stained glass?
Tip: Trace leaves you collect or download and print Aunt Annie's Leaf Patterns.
Related craft: Make Halloween Suncatchers to decorate your windows.
