This is a perfect Fall DIY to try! All you need to do is grab a few leaves from your yard and a package of clay (either oven-bake or air-dry will work for this project!) to make these Autumn leaf clay trinket dishes
Autumn Leaf Clay Dishes
Who is ready for the cooler days of Fall and all the warm colors and pretty leaves that come with it??? Today I have the perfect, pretty DIY Fall project for you!
You won’t believe how easy it is to create these high-end looking trinket dishes! They will be perfect for adding to an entryway table for your loose items or keys.
Or fill them with tiny pine cones or other Fall-ish items and use them in your Fall decorating.
For this monthโs Thrifty Style Team we all have great decorating ideas and DIYs for our readers! Every month a group of my blogging friends organized by Julie of Redhead Can Decorate come together to share thrifty and budget-friendly decorating ideas with you.
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Supplies For Trinket Dishes:
- A Variety of Leaves
- Oven-Bake Clay or Air-Dry Clay
- Paint Colors of Your Choice ( Acrylic Craft or Spray Paint)
- Waverly Antique Wax
Pick Leaves for the dishes
One great thing about this project is that you don’t need many supplies to create these pretty trinket dishes! All you need is to go outside and collect a few leaves and get a package of clay…and then you can paint them whatever colors you would like!
When picking out leaves you want to look for leaves with good veining that will leave a detailed imprint on the clay.
I am going to make a set of 3 trinket dishes and I picked a large hydrangea leaf, a maple leaf, and a sunflower leaf.
Roll out clay
To make clay leaf dishes you could use either oven-baked clay or air-dry clay. Both clays are very easy to work with and roll out.
The main difference is that the oven-baked clay bowls will be ready to paint in under an hour and you will have to wait a day or two for the air-dry clay to be set and ready to paint.
Both clays cost about the same amount.
For the oven-baked clay, you put it in your oven at 275ยฐ until they are set. Mine took close to 30 minutes because I had them inside of the porcelain bowls.
I rolled out the clay on top of a silicone baking mat using a rolling pin until it was large enough for my leaf to fit on and about 1/4 of an inch thick.
Making the leaf prints
Once the clay was rolled out, I placed a maple leaf into the center of the clay and rolled over it with a rolling pin.
Next, I used the tip of a steak knife to cut around the edges of the leaf.
Then I lifted the maple leaf out of the clay starting from the stem end and pulling the leaf upward.
Doesn’t it look cool already?? After I removed the leaf I just pulled off the excess clay around the edges.
Then I repeated the process with a hydrangea leaf and then with a sunflower leaf. Using the 3 different-sized and types of leaves gave me a varied set of trinket dishes.
The hydrangea leaf was my favorite imprint!!! It had so much detail and just wait until you see the finished trinket dish!!
baking the clay leaves
To create the shape for my leaf trinket dishes I grabbed a shallow bowl from my cabinet. I wiped a small amount of cooking spray inside of the bowls…I wasn’t sure if the clay would stick to the porcelain and I didn’t want to take any chances.
For the smaller sunflower clay leaf, I created a bowl out of aluminum foil and it worked out great!
For the Sculpty oven-baked clay that I’m using you bake it in the oven at 275ยฐ for 15 minutes for a 1/4 inch project.
I placed the 3 clay leaves onto a baking sheet and put them into my preheated oven.
The maple and hydrangea leaves that I placed in the bowls to shape took about 30 minutes to harden. The small sunflower leaf that I shaped inside the aluminum foil took around 20 minutes.
Just keep checking your leaves, you will be able to feel when the clay is dry.
If you are using air-dry clay check the leaves after a day, it’s easy to tell if the clay is dry. Drying time will depend on your climate and how warm or humid it is in your home.
Oven-Baked dishes
After I removed the baking sheet from the oven I left the maple and hydrangea leaves inside of the bowls to cool down before removing them.
painting the leaf trinket dishes
Once the leaf dishes are completely cooled it is time to paint them. For this project use whatever colors work for you!
Both acrylic craft paints and spray paints will work well with the clay leaves.
Today I used spray paints because I already had them left over from other projects. I painted the hydrangea leaf with antiqued gold, the maple in a pretty copper, and the sunflower leaf a dark green.
After the paint was dry, I wanted to bring out the veining details of the leaf and also to take some of the metallic sheen down a little bit. All I did was brush a teeny amount of Waverly Antique Wax onto the leaves and work it in. What I love about the Waverly is that it is the consistency of chalk paint and is so easy to work with!
Finished Autumn Leaf Clay Trinket Dishes
OK, can you believe a couple of hours ago these beautiful trinket dishes were a pile of clay?? They are just perfect for using on my entryway table this Fall!
This would also be a great project to do with children…but I would just use acrylic paints so they can paint them on their own!
It’s amazing how much detail from the leaves you can see in these little dishes! Honestly, they came out better than I had imagined that they would!! I love when that happens with a project…because I’ve had my share of Pinterest fails!!!
The hydrangea leaf is definitely my favorite one!! The shape and the point detail at the end of the leaf are giving me heart emoji eyes!!
Now, remember if you make this project (or any of my other projects) I want to see it!! Send your photos to jennifer@cottageonbunkerhill.com. I’d love to share them on my Weekly Rewind!
My friend Rachel and I are always on the same creative wavelength…this week she used clay to create leaf napkin rings! Such a cute project that I am definitely going to make for Fall!
Check out what the rest of the Thrifty Style Team has for you this month!!
Redhead Can Decorate โA Look Back at Redhead Can Decorates Best Affordable DIY Projects
Our Crafty Mom โWooden Candle Holders with a Faux Concrete Finish
I Should Be Mopping the Floor โUnique Containers for Flower Arrangements
The How to Home โHow to Make a Pom Pom Pillow
DIY Beautify โThrifty Vintage Art for Your Walls
2 Bees in a Pod โFrench Country Lamp Makeover
Postcards From the Ridge โHow to Paint a Glass Vase to Look Like Stoneware
The Tattered Pew โThe Secret Tip to Drying Hydrangeas
Cottage on Bunker Hill โHow to Make Autumn Leaf Clay Trinket Dishes
Amy Sadler Designs โWheat and Floral Decor for Fall Decorating
Songbird โDIY Hanging Glass Bottles for Tiny Flower Bouquets
My Family Thyme –Make an Easy and Inexpensive Fall Wreath
Southern Yankee DIY – DIY Faux Concrete Planter
How to Make Autumn Leaf Clay Trinket Dishes
Here is an easy DIY for Fall! All you need is a package of either air-dry or oven-bake clay and a few leaves from your yard, and a little paint.
Materials
- Fresh Leaves
- Oven-Bake or Air-Dry Clay
- Acrylic or Spray Paints
- Waverly Antique Wax
Tools
- Rolling Pin
- Knife
- Bowls
Instructions
- Gather leaves. Find larger leaves with good veining. I used a hydrangea, maple, and sunflower leaf.
- Roll out your clay to 1/4 inch thickness and large enough to fit your leaf
- Place the leaf on the clay and roll over it with a rolling pin
- Use the tip of a knife to cut out the leaf shape
- Remove excess clay
- Place clay leaf in a small bowl (I wiped a tiny amount of cooking spray inside the bowl to prevent sticking) to create a rounded shape for the trinket dish
- If using oven-baked clay follow directions for baking times on the package
- If using air-dry clay check for dryness after 24 hours, drying time will depend on your climate.
- Once clay leaves are cooled or dried paint them in your choice of colors. You can use either acrylic craft paint or spray paint.
- To bring out the detail of the leaves I brushed a small amount of Waverly antique wax over the leaves when the paint was dried.
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I LOVE these, Jennifer! I have never experimented with clay before, but you have inspired me to give it a try! What a simple, yet beautiful project! Pinned!
I’m a novice too! I’ve only made a few projects with clay before.
Jennifer these are gorgeous! I love the shape and the way you finished them. I’ve never worked with this type of clay but am definitely going to try it. Thanks for the tutorial! Pinned!
Thanks so much, Angie!!
Love this Jennifer, they came out just perfect.
You’re the best!! Thanks, Wendy!!
Okay Midas!!!! I love everything you do! These are so stinkin cute!!!!
You are the best!!
GORGEOUS!
Thank you so much!!!
Jennifer, I love this idea so much! Iโm definitely going to make some for fall! Thank you so much for such a creative idea! Iโm sharing this tomorrow on my Seven on Saturday roundup post! Happy Weekend!!
These leaf bowls are stunning! So creative and beautifully done.
Jennifer I am loving these! You are so stinking creative…I just want to harness some of your creativity! Can you send some my way!!!! Pinned!
Thanks, my friend!! I’ll have to come out and visit you and bring it with me!!
These are simply beautiful! I love the detail of the veins and the final colors. So pretty!
Thanks so much, Mary Beth!
Gosh, Jennifer…these are truly just STUNNING! I love the detail and colors. And I’m with you, the shape of that hydrangea leaf is the perfect one! xoxo, kristi
Thanks, Kristi!!!
I just ordered the clay!!!
Jen-you make the coolest things for home decor. I would love to make these for my kiddos for Christmas for their jewelry. I must make the time!!!
Girl,
These look amazing! Thanks for linking to my napkin rings.
Thanks!!! They did come out cool! Sometimes I impress myself…LOL!!!
Jennifer, I just love how beautiful these turned out. The metallic paint on them makes the leaf pop. Such a fun project!
These turned out so beautiful Jen! That dark wax really highlights all the veining! Def need to make a few this fall!
I know, right!! That wax is everything!!!!
Jennifer!! This is gorgeous!! You seriously have no idea how obsessed I am!! We’re doing homeschool this year and this might be a Autumn at project we do!! โค๏ธ
!000% this is a great project with kids!! I used to love collecting Fall leaves with the daycare kids to do projects.
These turned out so good!!! I want to make them!
You have to! You have so many cool leaves to use!
Wow Jennifer – these trinket dishes are beautiful. I made some a few years ago and never even thought to paint them…they look amazing!
Wow these are beautiful! Love the colors and the shapes.
These would make great gifts.
Pinned!