How To Make Hammered Leaf and Flower Art – GWC Mag

If you are someone who can’t take a walk or hike without bringing home a pile of pretty leaves and then find yourself wondering what to do with them, this arty and crafty project might be for you.

Leaves and flowers are so beautiful, it is sometimes hard to see them just die and rot to the earth.  Though this natural composting is a wonderful and essential cog in our delicate and tireless ecosystem, sometimes we just can’t help but want to borrow a tiny portion of it to try to petrify and preserve the colors and textures.

Drying flowers, making leaf garlands, pressing flowers, and creating cut flower arrangements are all great projects that bring a little bit of nature into your home. Another idea that you and your kids could get behind is hammering leaves and flowers to make imprints onto paper and fabric.

It is a really easy endeavor with potentially stunning results.

1. You Will Need

• flowers or leaves to print
• watercolor paper (this is good for absorbing moisture)
• selection of hammers
• a hard work surface that can withstand a bashing (don’t do this on a precious surface)
• paper towels
• pen
• tweezers

2. A Word of Caution

One of the most wonderful aspects of this type of art is that it requires that you go outside. You can either go on a full-on hike or wander around your garden or local park to find the fodder for your art.

Since you will be looking for leaves and maybe flowers to create art with, unless it is your property, be very aware of what you are picking and where you are taking things from.

Dead leaves on the ground are one thing, but plucking prized flowers from the wild or someone’s beautifully manicured garden is not cool. Just be aware of what you are taking.

The other thing to be mindful of is understanding what it is you are grabbing.  There are poisonous leaves out there, such as poison ivy, which despite being pretty, is also pretty vicious.

3. Types of Leaves to Collect

You are going to want leaves that aren’t too succulent as they will just make a big, wet, splodgy mess, or too dry as no color will come out of them.

Find reasonably fresh leaves that have bright colors and are pretty well intact. That is to say, don’t choose leaves that are half rotten, half missing, or diseased.

The idea is to have a nice clean imprint of the colors and textures of your leaves and flowers, so anything too elaborate won’t work.

4. Prepare your Space

You are going to be bashing leaves into paper with a hammer.  This means that whatever you are hammering onto needs to be something hard, durable, and can take some abuse. An old cutting board would do the trick or a sturdy table dedicated to craft and other messy things.

Place the piece of paper you want to imprint onto the hard surface with your leaf or flower on top.  Have two or three sheets of kitchen paper ready to cover the leaves with. Kitchen paper helps to absorb surplus plant matter that you don’t want on your paper.

5. Get Ready to Hammer

Source: First Day of Home/YouTube

Lay a few sheets of paper towel over the paper and leaf. With your finger, feel the general outline of the leaf or leaves and sketch this out on the paper towel with a pen.

This will help guide you to know where to hammer.

6. Start Bashing

Hit the paper towel with a hammer within the perimeter lines that you drew. You need to make sure that you have bashed every inch of the leaf. Be patient. It will be worth the extra care.

If you feel that you have hammered thoroughly, gently peel back the paper towel without shifting it. If you see a perfect imprint on the towel, the paper will likely be a success, too.

If not, gently replace the paper towel and try to hit the bits you missed.

7. Reveal Your Creation

If you are satisfied that you have done all the hammering needed, remove the paper towels and set them aside. Next, with your fingers or a pair of tweezers, gently remove the leaf from the paper.

If you find that the leaf is sticking to the paper, allow it to dry thoroughly and remove it later. You might be able to brush the dried particles away at this point.

8. Now what?

Source: Tase Woolf Studio/YouTube

You can use your leaf and flower prints to decorate greeting cards, make wall art, or adorn different fabrics. The possibilities are endless.

If you want to, you can add some details to the print in black fine-liner pen to give a pen and ink or watercolor look to your creation.

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