Salt and Watercolor Fall Leaves

I came across this beautiful technique at the Happy Hooligans blog.  She practiced letter writing with glue, salt and paint.   I thought this technique would be a fun experiment for my third graders and make beautiful fall leaf paintings.

Colorful leaf outlines painted on white paper using autumn-themed watercolor colors.Here’s how this works.   First, we used real fall leaves for inspiration while drawing.  We drew leaves with pencil on watercolor paper.  Then, we used regular Elmer’s white glue to outline the leaves.

Colorful salt art in the shapes of leaves on a white background, blending beautifully like vibrant watercolor paintings.

While the glue was still wet, we poured salt on the glue.  Shake off the excess salt like you do with glitter.  We did the salt shaking inside a shallow box, so we could reclaim the salt that had fallen off the project  (obviously don’t use for eating later.)

Watercolor painting of various colorful fall leaves and wavy orange lines on a white background.

We waited until after the glue was dry, but you could actually do the next step while the glue is still wet.  Use watercolors to dot colors on top of the glued salt.  The paint spreads and makes a beautiful effect.

Watercolor painting of various colorful fall leaves outlined in bold red, orange, and blue borders with a touch of salt for texture.

That’s it!  Super fun, easy and feels almost magical!

A vivid watercolor painting of fall leaves in orange, yellow, green, and white hues on a bright orange background. Abstract watercolor painting featuring colorful fall leaves and swirls in various shades of red, yellow, blue, and green.

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5 Comments

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  1. Thank you for sharing! What a great idea, and what beautiful art is created! Thank you for sharing, so simple, yet elegant! Parents will love it.

    • Thanks Joelle for all your comments. I appreciate you taking the time to read my blog and leave your thoughts. I was wondering if I should encourage the kids next year to paint he background or just leave the leaves painted.