Clay Leaf Ornaments

Autumn is almost over but here in the Bay Area it's finally in full swing. The trees are golden, the sidewalks are covered in leaves and the cooler, rainy weather is finally upon us.

Autumn is my favourite season for being creative. Actually, it's my favourite season in general. I really enjoy creating crafts with Autumn leaves and I'm lucky that I have two little helpers who are just as keen. Ava and Lola love to collect colourful leaves as we walk to and from school and they're always excited to make something with them - although admittedly most do end up crushed in the bottom of the stroller!

Most of the crafts we make with leaves are temporary. At some point down the track the leaves get crumbled and whatever we've made ends up in the trash. I thought it would be nice to make something with leaves that lasts a little longer, so inspired by the nature impressions in clay that we made over the Summer (which you can see here on Popsugar) we got to work pressing leaves into clay.

The girls and I have worked on all sorts of leaf crafts in the past but this one has to be my favourite.

I'm really happy with how well they turned out. They really do look like leaves. I hung them up in the living room for Thanksgiving but I'm actually thinking of just leaving them up as they look so pretty.

Autumn Leaf Garland

Autumn really is such a beautiful time of year. The trees are so full of colour in various shades of reds, oranges, yellows, browns and green. And as the trees shed their leaves, so too do the gardens and sidewalks become full of colour. While I love seeing the leaves scattered everywhere I'm sure that those of you who have to sweep them up aren't quite so fond of this time of year!

Over the past few weeks the girls and I have been collecting Autumn leaves as we walk to and from school. I wasn't really sure what we were going to do with them but we kept on collecting them anyway. I really wanted to preserve the beauty of Autumn by bringing the colours into our apartment.

I've come up with a few projects for our collection of Autumn leaves and here's the first one: an Autumn Leaf Garland. It's pretty simple to make and I think it looks lovely hanging in a window.

Autumn Leaf Garland

Winter?

It's Winter here in California - although it seems that nature missed the memo...

While it was actually quite chilly here today, this cooler weather was uncharacteristic of the weather we've had recently and for much of Winter. A few days ago it was 21c and sunny. 21c and Sunny! That's like Winter in Brisbane. Winter in the Northern Hemisphere is supposed to be cold and grey; or at least that's the impression you get in Australia. For the most part, Winter here has been warmer than I anticipated. Most days have greeted us with blue, cloudless skies which, considering we don't have a car and the girls and I walk everywhere, is not a bad thing. A little variety would be nice though.

The trees seem to be really confused about which season it is at the moment. While walking Ava to and from preschool this week I couldn't help but notice the amazing variety in seasonal attributes amongst the trees.

Some trees have decided that Spring is already here and are covered in blossoms in varying pink hues.
The sweet scent of their nectar fills the air and the sound of bees gently buzzing by imparts a warm fuzzy feeling - although Ava is freaked out by the bees and she runs as fast as she can past the trees with blossoms!

Spring blossoms