• Home
    • About
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy/Disclosure
  • Shop
  • Subscribe
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest

Little Pine Learners

Natured-Inspired Activities

  • Blog
  • Create
    • Fall
    • Winter
    • Spring
    • Summer
    • Year Round
  • Play
    • Fall
    • Winter
    • Spring
    • Summer
    • Year Round
  • Learn
    • Fall
    • Winter
    • Spring
    • Summer
    • Year Round

in Create· Fall

Stunning Leaf Lanterns

These stunning leaf lanterns will bring light into your home during the darker days of fall. It’s the perfect activity to try with your children on a beautiful fall day! It also make a great fall equinox craft. Children will love going on a leaf hunt and enjoy the process of making this gorgeous fall decoration!

These stunning leaf lanterns will bring light into your home during the darker days of fall. It's the perfect activity to try with your children on a beautiful fall day! It also make a great fall equinox craft. Children will love going on a leaf hunt for this lantern and will enjoy the process of making this gorgeous fall decoration!

We had so much fun making our magical pressed flower lanterns this past spring, that I wanted to try a leaf version for fall! These leaf lanterns turned out so beautiful and I’m so excited to share the process with you today. It’s a little messy, but super fun to make and will definitely get some oohhs and ahhs from visitors in your home! It looks so delicate during the day and the flickering of the light at night gives any home a warm and cozy autumn vibe. 

Don’t forget to carefully pack it up at the end of the season, so you can enjoy it year after year!

Surprise! We also made a Mini Christmas Tree Lantern too! You can check it out HERE.

Ready to make a couple leaf lanterns?! Here’s what you’ll need..

Supplies:

  • Tissue paper: You can try any color, but we used white.
  • Elmers Glue-All– We used this type of crafting glue.
  • Balloons– We used these biodegradable balloons. 
  • Paint brush– We used the foam sponge brushes.
  • A container to place your lanterns in when they are drying.
  • Flameless tea light
  • Water
  • Leaves! We headed outside for a leaf hunt to find colorful leaves of all different shapes and sizes. 
This post contains Affiliate links for your convenience.

Looking for more homemade fall decorations?! Check out this lovely Seed Picture Garland for Fall

Here’s How We Made Our Leaf Lanterns:

Step 1:

Search for some beautiful fall leaves! We looked for leaves of all different colors, shapes, and sizes! It was difficult to narrow them down, but we were happy with our selections. 

This is a great fall activity, but you can do this any time of year and use green leaves. Check out this gorgeous green leaf lantern from Woven Childhood for inspiration!

Step 2:

Now set up your lantern making station. We set up our area with our supplies and got right to work. For the glue mixture, I used half a bottle of Elmers Glue All and mixed in equal parts water. This doesn’t need to be exact. I have made quite a few of these lanterns and eyeballed the mixture every time.

We ended up cutting more pieces of tissue paper because the pieces pictured below were wayyyy to small. You can see the size of the new tissue paper pieces on the balloon in the next photo. We used a regular sized balloon this time around for our lantern and we didn’t take that into consideration when cutting the tissue paper. 

Step 3:

For the first layer of covering, we just used plain water without glue. Dip the tissue paper right in the water and start a single layer without glue. This will help the balloon peel off the inner layer of tissue paper when you pop it later.

Beautiful fall luminary 

Step 4:

Now add another layer of tissue paper, but this time add the glue mixture on top of the first layer of tissue. You can start to add leaves after you have your second complete layer of tissue paper on your balloon. I covered most of the leaves with a single layer of tissue paper just to make sure they wouldn’t budge. I was a little nervous that the leaves would fall off since some of them were so heavy, but they are secure and look beautiful! There are a couple of small leaves on the leaf lanterns that I did not cover with tissue paper and they dried nicely and are still stuck to the lantern.

I suggest four layers of tissue paper at most, but we stopped at three layers to allow for more light to shine through the lanterns. 

Beautiful fall luminary

Step 5:

Let them dry.

I set my lanterns in a take out container, so they could dry evenly. Once the tops were dried, I took them out of the container to make sure the bottoms of the lanterns were 100% dry before we popped them. Give them about 10-12 hours for them to dry completely.

Step 6:

Pop the balloons. This is always a fun process!

I used a sharp knife to pop the balloons. The balloon popped right out and the leaf lanterns looked awesome!

It looked so beautiful when it was lit with the flameless candles!

Stunning leaf lantern!

The next night, we brought it outside at dusk and placed it in our yard. The boys kept running up to look at the leaves and their beautiful piece of art!

Beautiful leaf lantern!

If you take your lantern outside, make sure to bring it back in because rain will ruin it. 

What do you think? Do you love this lantern as much as we do?!

Beautiful leaf lantern!

Pin it and save it for later!

These stunning leaf lanterns will bring light into your home during the darker days of fall. It's the perfect activity to try with your children on a beautiful fall day! It also make a great fall equinox craft. Children will love going on a leaf hunt for this lantern and will enjoy the process of making this gorgeous fall decoration!

I hope you make a couple leaf lanterns! I promise, your little nature lovers will love this nature craft as much as my boys.

∼Tara

Need more nature craft ideas?! Check out:

How to Preserve Fall Leaves With Beeswax

12 Low-Prep Fall Keepsakes

« Sticky Leaf Scavenger Hunt
Beautiful Leaf Identification Tiles »

Let’s Connect

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest

Subscribe

Find me on Pinterest

Find it Fast

Past Posts

By Topics

Subscribe

Looking for Something?

Featured blog Posts

This icy sensory bin is perfect for your next Halloween party or any regular ole Monday! It's easy to set up and it will keep kids entertained for a long time. Just freeze toy monster eyeballs in extra large sphere ice molds, set out some fine motor tools and you are all set!
You can add food coloring at this point, but I decided not to because the colorful rocks look so pretty against the white oobleck! I might try it next time to mix things up a bit.
Valentine's Day Literacy Activities

Let’s Connect

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
•DIY Flower Vase• This gorgeous and oh so easy •DIY Flower Vase•
This gorgeous and oh so easy to make flower vase is a must try craft! It makes the perfect handmade gift or decoration for your home. The flowers may fade, but this gorgeous vase will last forever.
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Swipe to see how we turned this into an illuminated vase! This was a cool discovery from my little one, Leo😍 Now it can be enjoy during the day and at night! ✨ 
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
See all the details here! https://littlepinelearners.com/diy-flower-vase/ #diy #diyvase #valentinesgift #naturecrafts
•Spatial Awareness Nature Shape Puzzle• Give y •Spatial Awareness Nature Shape Puzzle•
Give your child the opportunity to work on spatial awareness with this simple and beautiful DIY nature puzzle. Children will love manipulating the pieces of nature to make them fit inside the shape! You can keep this activity fun and fresh by adding new seasonal pieces of nature from your area🌿🌺
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Try a heart shape this Valentine’s Day❤️
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
See the ✔️tips, ✔️tricks, and ✔️details HERE https://littlepinelearners.com/work-on-spacial-awareness-with-this-simple-nature-shape-puzzle/ #natureactivity #natureflatlay #transientart #valentinesdayactivities
•Beaded stars• So simple and always a hit! And •Beaded stars•
So simple and always a hit! And the best part is, all you need is cardboard, string, and beads. Give this fine motor activity a try today! #recycleandplay #cardboardart #cardbaordactivities
Make a starry night sky with this sweet reading no Make a starry night sky with this sweet reading nook idea. Just poke lights through the top of a cardboard box, grab a book and relax😍
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Need some winter book ideas? Here’s 40 winter books to read this season! https://littlepinelearners.com/40-winter-picture-books-for-kids/ #kidsbooks #booksofinstagram #picturebooks #readingnook
✨Nature Constellation Matching Game✨ Here is a ✨Nature Constellation Matching Game✨
Here is a simple way for kids to learn constellations!⬇️
Draw simple constellations on a piece of paper and match the lines with sticks and the stars with rocks! If you don’t have rocks, you could also try seashells, flowers, or acorns 🌌
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
See the details HERE ✨ https://littlepinelearners.com/nature-constellation-matching-game/ #natureactivities #spaceactivities
🌸Magical Snow Garden🌸
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
This is one of those SIMPLE activities that you will return to over and over again! It’s the perfect outdoor center for a nature preschool or screen-free activity for home.
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
It was fun to show my kids that with just a dash of creativity, you can make a flower garden in the middle of winter!
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Ready to make a magical snow garden with your kids? See 5 ways to play in the garden here 🌸  https://littlepinelearners.com/create-a-magical-snow-garden/ #outdooractivities #outdooractivitiesforkids #winteractivities #winteractivitiesforkids
#1000hoursoutside 
#runwildmychild
•Super Simple Beeswax Decoration• This beeswax •Super Simple Beeswax Decoration•
This beeswax craft was 100%  inspired by a gorgeous post I saw on @awilderchild’s amazing Facebook group called Wildschooling. I saw a beautiful photo of these beeswax decorations and knew I had to try it for myself!
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
These are versatile decorations and can be made into beautiful Christmas ornaments or turned into a sweet garland anytime of year. They are strong and can be handled by little hands!
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
See the details here 🐝 https://littlepinelearners.com/an-incredibly-easy-beeswax-craft/ #naturecrafts #beeswaxcrafts #beeswax #easycrafts #diycrafts
•Beeswax Bowls•
Happy New Year, my friends!🎉 I have a couple beeswax crafts coming your way to kick off the new year 🐝 If you’ve never worked with beeswax, I highly recommend it! It’s warm and smells beautiful. Perfect for winter ❄️ 
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
I first saw these gorgeous DIY bowls a while ago over at @wovenchildhood and then quickly tumbled down the Pinterest rabbit hole of beeswax crafts and luminaries 😍 
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
These are so fun to make and look beautiful with a flameless candle! My parents already claimed this batch, so now I need to make more for our home!🕯 
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
You can see a quick DIY video on my Reels (my first one!) OR See all the tips, tricks and details here! https://littlepinelearners.com/diy-bowls-made-of-beeswax/ #beeswaxcandles #beeswax #beeswaxcrafts #naturecrafts #diy

Copyright © 2021 · Website Designed by Laugh Eat Learn