Is fall in the air in your neck of the woods?   The leaves are just starting to turn here in Michigan. So, in honor of the nip in the air and the beautiful fall foliage, here are 10 fabulous fall leaf crafts that use beautiful fall foliage to decorate your home right now and for Thanksgiving.

I grew up in central Florida, and we didn’t really have fall there until January, but palm trees would look weird with red leaves anyway. We loved taking trips to see fall foliage elsewhere, however, and that helped!

The only problem is that after you’ve gathered that vibrant bunch of fall leaves and dried them, they began to lose that gorgeous color.

So the first thing I want to show you is how to preserve leaves the right way for your leaf crafts.

The secret is glycerin! Once they are preserved, you can leave them as is (no pun intended) for crafts, to be simply framed, or just to display on a table.

Not to rush you, but are you in charge of Thanksgiving dinner this year? November is coming up fast. Grab our free meal planner below!

Make a gorgeous leaf garland.

This one used big, glossy Magnolia leaves and would be so pretty for Thanksgiving.

This amazing relief (oh my, another pun!) is made with aluminum foil. Really!

Use spray adhesive to stick the leaves to a board. Cover the whole thing with aluminum foil.  Lightly spray matte black spray paint on it and gently rub some of the paint off with very fine steel wool.  I think this is simply gorgeous!

Use fast-drying clay to make leaf bowls.

These are lovely just as is in white, but they would also look wonderful lightly tinted with color.

Look at these elegant leaf-printed table linens.

So many ways to customize the look of these linens.  You can choose any color you want for both the cloth and the paint.

Rustic yet delicate leaf-covered mason jar.

I love how the light diffusely shines through for a soft glow.

These would look nice on a mantel or a windowsill.

Another take on a leaf-patterned mason jar.

Yes, I know this is kind of a “cheat,” but if you don’t have lots of leaves available, yet still want the look, I think these painted mason jars are perfect. I love the colors they have chosen, too. These would be awesome on the tables for a Fall-themed wedding reception.

You can do so many things with mason jars! See 20+ more mason jar crafts here.

Make leaf roses.

Here is a very unique but stunning way to use leaves. And it really doesn’t seem terribly hard to do, either. What an elegant centerpiece this would make.

A leaf bowl.

I’ve seen so many versions of this on Pinterest, but most of them use artificial leaves.  Those do look nice, but this one uses real leaves.  I think it turned out great.

Hammered leaves.

An interesting and unusual way to make leaf prints.  They use a plastic cutting board for stability and sandwiched the leaves between thick paper and layers of paper towels.  Simply hammer the leaves to transfer the color right onto the artist paper.  The paper towels soak up the excess juice.  There are so many possibilities with this year-round.

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And finally, if you don’t have any leaves around you, make leaf cookies.

I thought this was so clever.  I saw 2 different recipes for this.  One made their own sugar cookie dough, and the other simply used store-bought dough.  Simply divide up the dough into 5 equal sections and add orange, yellow, red, and green dye and cocoa powder to the last section.  Pull apart the sections of dough and lay them out on parchment paper with the colored dough all jumbled together.  Roll the dough flat so the different colored sections meld together.  Next, just cut out multicolored leaves with a cookie cutter. (Here are some on Amazon.) Draw on veins with a toothpick and sprinkle with coarse sugar. Pretty!

So, I hope you found some great inspiration to gather up some fall leaves and make your own fabulous fall leaf crafts!

What kinds of trees show the best color in your area?

Happy Fall, y’all! 🙂

~ Pam

P.S. Since we didn’t have a lot of fall color in Florida, see the fall topiary I made with silk leaves and flowers. The good news is that these topiaries store well, and I am able to continue using them here in Michigan, too!