We made a new “stained glass” window for our front door using Autumn leaves and contact paper.
Pretty, eh?
These leaves are from a parking lot tree. I’m such a sucker for colorful fall leaves that I’ve gotten to the point where I stop to gather some when I’m running errands.
Here’s how to make this simple Autumn leaves craft ::
MATERIALS
- Colorful Autumn Leaves
- Transparent Contact paper (also called sticky back plastic)
- Black permanent marker (optional)
Autumn Leaves Stained Glass Window
Aren’t these leaves beautiful with the sun shining through?
To make this leaf stained glass, add autumn leaves face down to the sticky side of transparent contact paper. Then simply stick the contact paper directly to the window. When you’re ready for a change, just pull the contact paper off the window.
A few of the leaves on this panel were dried, but for the most part we used freshly picked leaves. From the flower suncatchers that we’ve made (such as the flower petal stained glass door), I learned that after a week or two the leaves and flowers look as though they’ve been pressed and dried, especially if they were thin to begin with (i.e. there isn’t a full flower or layers of flowers but rather flat leaves or flower petals).
You may have noticed drawings on a couple of the panels above. Maia drew trees on the contact paper pieces first before we added the leaves.
Here’s the panel with the tree drawing and the leaves. The drawing didn’t show up as well as I thought it would, but the effect is kind of neat anyway.
To the right of our leafy front door, you can see (sorta anyway) the pumpkins on our front porch and the dogwood tree in it’s full red glory. I love fall!
And I’m also loving the changing art display case that the front door windows are proving to be. Loving all the stained glass effects we’re able to create, using seasonal inspiration and different techniques.
For another Autumn leaves craft, try doodling on the leaves with Sharpie markers. Or make Autumn suncatchers.
In fact, here are 31 Autumn Crafts, Pumpkin Recipes, and Halloween Decorations if you want to go all out.
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Oh this is beautiful!
those look fantastic, especially with the sun shining through!!! Fall at its best
We just pulled off our last round of water color “stained glass”. Totally going to do this next. Thank you for the great ideas. My daughter and I always enjoy them.
Oh I must give this a try with my son!
So pretty! What better way to decorate the house than with embellishments from nature.
Thanks, everyone!
This is a great idea that I’d love to try with my 4-5 year old class ~ Sticking on some of the windows at school will look beautiful ~ think I’d like to try putting another piece of the contact paper to sandwich in the leaves, then the children will be able to take them home. Have you ever tried this?
This is so pretty. I must admit I am prone to stopping and gathering pretty autumn leaves when I see them too! So far we’ve only pressed some, but I am constantly inspired by all the lovely things you show us on your blog. Thanks for all the inspiration.
Glad I’m not the only one!
Yep! We do that, too! Works well.
Wish we lived where there were beautiful leaves to decorate like that! We don’t have “fall” here in FL!
Really lovely, my four year old loves to collect leaves in random places, now we can put them up. You seem to have matte contact paper, is that better, and will it leave a sticky mess on the windows?
This is totally happening at our house with my 2-year-old. She can do it and it would look so pretty!
I saw this on pinterest and did this to the windows on my back door over the weekend, looks amazing!! Thanks so much for the idea!
I love how your handmade stained glass fits the window panes. Looks so professional! I’m an Interior Designer and and artist {and homeschool mom} so I’m always drawn to beautiful things. I featured your post on the Montessori MOMents site & Facebook page. Here are the links:
http://mymontessorimoments.com/2011/11/07/fall-leaf-activities/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Montessori-MOMents/186597394722411
Thanks for the beautiful project!
Brilliant and lovely!
That’s very creative. It made the otherwise boring clear glass look beautiful. It just goes to show how a little creativity can make any bland thing more interesting.
This is so pretty! What a wonderful idea!
So glad I saw this post. We did this this weekend, the kids loved it and even my husband said wow! when he saw! We’ve now decorated the front door, entrancehall window and the kids bedroom window. Thanks for the great idea
We live in military base housing, does the contact paper leave any type of glue on the windows once we pull it off? would love to do this but not sure if we would get in big trouble… lol thanks I love this project
Hi, we made this yesterday and it looks great! But I’m noticing a lot of condensation between the contact paper and the glass, where the leaves separate the two. Is there any way to avoid this?