Layered Leaf Art DIY

It's hard not to feel inspired by the leaves during fall. They look so beautiful as they change from green to yellow, orange and red! While driving around the other day and admiring them, I felt the urge to create some art. I started brainstorming how I could incorporate leaves, and this little project was born!

I'm really happy how this project turned out. It's really easy once you get the hang of glueing down the leaves, and pretty cheap if you already have most of these materials like I did. I love the texture, and any excuse to add a little gold into my home is okay by me :).

You need:
Leaves
Spray paint
Glue gun and glue gun sticks
Frame of any size
Piece of card stock, cut to fit your frame

1. First, find some leaves! I used some glossy, fairly sturdy leaves from a bush in front of my apartment. You'll need quite a bit, I probably grabbed about 60 or so.
2. Next, paint your leaves. I used spray paint to make this process quicker. I recommend priming the leaves first, I found the color dried better when I did this (see photo below). Let dry completely.

Leaf without primer in the center, you can see how the paint doesn't look as bright and the leaf shows through a little more. 

3. Cut your card stock to fit into your frame.

4. Plug in your glue gun, and begin glueing your leaves onto the card stock. I found it was easiest to apply the glue to the leaf itself. Be gentle with the leaves so the paint doesn't crack. 

5. Keep glueing! I went from bottom to top, overlaying the leaves and switching directions each layer. 

6. Once all your layers are glued, you can go back and touch up any paint that may have cracked with a paintbrush.
7. Let dry completely and hang!