Autumn Leaf Pin or Magnet
Patterns for the autmn leaf pin are all around us. Just pick a few that
you think would make good pins. Be sure they are good and sturdy and not
too big or too small. Think of the size pin you would like to wear and then
find a good leaf to match that size.
Items you will need....
Polymer clay in red, orange, green, brown
(for this project, I suggest a nice soft clay like Premo)
A good sturdy hatpin to cut around the clay
Some polyurethane gloss for polymer (non-toxic)clay
A small paintbrush
A pinback or a magnet
a piece of waxpaper to work on
The rest is very simple. Take small amounts of each color
of clay and just squish them to each other on the waxpaper in no particular
order. Just side by side in order to form a small sheet of different colored
clay. This should be about 1/4 inch thick and wide enough to cover your leaf.
Lightly rub the colors together so that the colors blend instead of being
definite sections of color. Continue blending and rubbing the colors with your
fingertips until the clay looks the way you would like and is now nice and soft.
Now press your leaf onto the clay. You can use either side, but I like to press
the back of the leaf to my clay so all the ribs and veins in the leaf will show on
my clay.
While the leaf is pressed in place, gently cut all around it with your pin.
At this point, you can get pretty creative by cutting out more than one leaf and
arranging them together....use different sized leaves for more interest or have one
leaf in bright yellow or red to stand out from the others. You can personalize the
leaf with your name or a saying you like. Use IMAGINATION.
Now you can either place your leaf or leaves flat on a piece of foil or kind of bend
them so they look more like real leaves. Put them on the foil, cover lightly with
another piece of foil and bake in your oven for approximately 40 to 45 minutes at 235
degrees.
After the leaf or leaves have cooled, glue the pin or magnet to the back and coat the
pin with the polyurethane gloss