Gilding the Lily

Here’s an idea for a creative project, just in time for the holidays. Make your own metallic-coloured leaves for decorating. Start by going outside to gather a selection of dried leaves. The trick is to collect your leaves before the snow falls. But you may find some still attached to trees or bushes if all else fails. The ones pictured here are oak leaves though there are all sorts of leaf shapes that would work just as well. Next step is to paint them with metallic paint: silver, gold, copper, whatever you like. I used acrylic craft paint for easy clean up and good coverage. The painted leaves can be used to decorate your mantle, table settings, wreathes, swags... whatever you like. Smaller leaves add a little sparkle to gifts, as you see here. I painted these ones last year and they are still going strong.