Michele's DIY Realm:Fall Cove (Maple Leaf Bookmarks, Doorknob Hangers, and Decorative Platters)

Hi, everyone! Fall is officially here and I'll be making THREE new DIY projects out of...MAPLE LEAVES!!! I know that it's a rare thing to see a list of DIY things made out of maple leaves but I'm gonna try to make bookmarks, doorknob hangers, and decorative platters (as I call it) or pictures out of colourful maple leaves. Canadians, I don't know whether you notice but when it comes to every fall, the maple leaves would wilt and fall out and they end up buried in deadly snow or being swept away by the sanitary workers. And that's just kind of sad because the trees produce leaves every year and the leaves are not able to stay in their branches forever. This gives me an idea to create something out of maple leaves so that I can experiment my creativity as well as save money to go shopping for decorations! My mom likes to buy paintings to hang on the walls all over my house and that definitely costs a lot of money! So I decide to turn the tables a little bit by using paper plates to stick maple leaves on it and create a pattern of colours. Sounds cool isn't it?

As for the doorknob hangers, I'm thinking of using giant-size maple leaves (there's one tree with huge purple maple leaves outside my house) to make the base and the curve-shape hanger out of cardboard before decorating it with smaller maple leaves. I'm still brainstorming on the appearance of it!

I'll also will be making bookmarks, which is pretty challenging because first of all, I have to press the leaves between pages of a book so that they can be hardened for at least a week. And then, I'll be using a stack of transparent file pages (you know, those transparent rectangles you find in stationery files) to wrap the leaves and close the edges and sides with something...I'm still working on the closing step. I've tried sewing but it doesn't work.

Result: FAIL

I don't know whether you can tell on what's wrong with the product above. The tips of the leaf was torn like graham crackers and the file wrap was cut unevenly, plus the sewing was definitely not as neat as a professional's.

I'll be doing more on these with cardboard boxes,manila card, magazine cuttings, or maybe cloths. I'm thinking of covering the back of the leaf with some sort of base before wrapping the leaf up. Anyway, I'm still experimenting with it! Hopefully my next trial will work!

So...anyway I'm sorry that you're expecting me to write a full tutorial post on how to make both of these things now but, I'm just giving you a heads up on what I'm planning to do this fall. I'm busy with my courses and I'm trying to balance up with my school life and my church life, but hopefully I'll find a little bit of time to focus on these two new projects. So I hope you're excited for fall, have a good semester so far, and I'll see you in the full tutorial below someday soon! <3 you all!

October 2 2014

Hey, all! So I've done a little bit of the maple leaf platter and it turns out well so far! Even though I use a weak kind of super glue, the leaves are dried up overnight so they're successfully glued on the paper. As for the gel-coloured maple leaf picture, I use my new gel pen set I've bought from Dollarama for 3 dollars only. I plan to buy myself a better glue at Dollarama tomorrow, hopefully...Anyway, what do you think of the sneak peek above? Can't wait to finish it by Thanksgiving! So stay tuned for this new DIY project as an idea to decorate for fall!

Maple Leaf Bookmarks
(coming soon)

Maple Leaf Platter
October 10 2014

Hey, all! How's it going? How are you enjoying the fall season so far? Thumbs up if you're excited for Thanksgiving (in Canada) next week! So I've finished my new DIY project called the Maple Leaf platter and it's basically a handmade portrait out of a drawing in the middle and maple leaves on the sides! Let's get started!

The things you need are:

• A pair of scissors
• Glue (I recommend you to use good quality glue that you can find in arts & craft's stores or maybe a super glue. I use my sister's school glue and it takes two hours or so for the maple leaves to stick on the plate! That's why I glue the maple leaves little by little each day these past two weeks. 
• Pressed maple leaves (small and medium sizes) (Before you glue the leaves, you should press them between the pages of a thick book like a dictionary or a bible (I use my bible, it's pretty handy =P They are to be squished in your book for at least five days.)
• A square plate (or a rectangular plate, a round plate might not have enough space for you drawing to be glued on the center. A drawing is optional, you can go ahead and cover the entire plate with maple leaves!)
• Pieces of paper. This is to cover the sides of the plate, easier for the maple leaves to be glued on.
• Colour pencils or any other colouring tools for your drawing (optional).
• An unwanted bag handle or any material you can think of to hang your platter. 

To start with the drawing like the photo above, draw maple leaf shapes all over your paper. I use a blank card torn from a notebook while drawing this. Then, trace the leaf lines on each leaf before you colour them. You don't want the lines to clash against the colour! Think of leaving little gaps for the leaf's detail to show! As for the colours, think of the maple leaf colours (red, yellow, orange, and purple). 

Trace the lines first! 

As for the background, think fall! It sounds a little cliche (or cheesy) but the colour of fall has to be dark but inviting. So to me, dark brown is the perfect fall colour. 

Now you're done with your maple leaf drawing (or portrait as people call it), you can turn from an empty plate to this beautiful masterpiece! 

First, cut your papers into four strips that fits on the sides of your square/rectangular plate. Glue them off to cover the sides. Then, paste your portrait onto the middle of the plate. 

Take out your pressed maple leaves and paste them one by one onto the paper strips. I leave the first row of glued leaves to dry for a while before I cover the strips with more maple leaves so that there is no sight of the white papers. Be creative! Use leaves of all sizes to "design" your frame! It's okay if some leaves end up covering the edges of your portrait, it still looks like a great fall masterpiece!

For the last part of the project, I cut out the handle of a ripped Bath and Body Works bag and wrapped it with a decorative red wire as shown above. I also tie the middle of the handle with a ribbon so that I can stick it on my door instead of using a nail or a pin to drill a hole. You can experiment with anything to hang your platter!

To glue the handle, paste two small strips of cellophane tape together with the handle onto the top back of the plate. 

 And there you have it! Your handmade Maple Leaf Platter! It'll look great on your door or somewhere in your room this fall! I hope you'll enjoy this tutorial! I'll do one more of the platter at the end of fall but this time, I'll make it as a note board! Have a great week, happy Thanksgiving!

Maple Leaf Doorknob Hanger
January 1 2015
Happy New Year! I'm glad that it's finally done! This is something I've never done before, and I'm surprisingly glad by how it turns out!

The things you need: A huge pressed maple leaf with a long stem, a puncher, a stapler (optional) a ribbon to hang, papers (depends on what you would like to decorate the stem), coloring materials (I use gel pens to color the blank paper cutouts, a pair of scissors, and glue.

First, punch a hole at the top of the maple leaf and slip the ribbon through it.

Next, cut out several strips of paper and stick one edge of each strip onto the stem. You can either staple the edges or roll them round the stem before gluing them together.

Cut big bubbles or ovals/ leaf-like shapes out of your papers and glue them onto the strips. Pretend that you're making a tree with leaves on branches.

If the glue you're using is wet, let the paper dry for a few minutes before coloring them. The back of the cutouts can be colored first so that you can mark the colours after you decorate the front of the cutouts. Be creative with the front! Think about what you want your doorknob hanger to tell to others. For example, if your mother sees that you don't want to be disturbed when you are studying, she will leave you alone if you have the study notice on your doorknob hanger! Or if you're up to your personal projects that lead to your future career, write them down so that people can see that you're doing the things you love and they won't disturb you.

Be sure that your writings are big enough to be colored and to be seen. Leave a little space between the letters when you color the cutouts. You can trace lines around the letter as guidelines. When it's complete, you'll feel like you're creating your own font/layout!

By the way, I actually wanted to do a multicolor kind of decoration out of strips of papers that is glued together into a...kind of a flower at the bottom but since it's almost the end of winter break and I don't have much time to finish this project, I decide to cut it out and replace it with the dark green bubble as shown in the photo above. It stands out from the "leaves" of my hobbies and passions above it because it includes a little poem about my fear of being different but I'm telling other people that I'll be okay even though I sense that people are looking down on me (pardon me on my negativity).

And there you have it!

The back

The front

If you like this DIY, give this post a "+1" and stay tuned for another DIY coming soon! Or maybe in my next post! =P Once again, happy new year!