[leaf it to me]

I found this idea on ArtClubBlog and thought it looked so special, yet had a spectacularly simple technique, that my son's grade 2 class would be more than capable of doing it.

I had to prep a few things for them though, as we only have an hour session, so firstly I came up with some simple leaf designs they could use (this seemed appropriate as it's Autumn ... well, for a couple more days anyway), and using the 'scribble on the back of the drawing' transfer method, the kids will be tracing the design onto each board, then pencilling in the transferred design so the shape is nice and clear...

Now for the fun (aka potentially messy) bit... I got some cheap wood glue, it has to be thick PVA for this technique to work, and one I chose doesn't dry clear, but it doesn't matter as it's going to be covered over in the next step. I put the glue in a squeezy sauce bottle I picked up from the $2 shop, and then traced over the design using the glue to make a raised leaf shape.

Once this was dry (so there are no opaque areas in the glue), I painted the entire board (over the raised glue design) liberally with regular (runny) PVA (this one needs to dry clear). It's also a good idea to make sure you've got some heavy duty plastic sheeting on the table you're working on as you will get glue on it! I used newspaper, but it was a pain to peel off.

Then I covered the glued board with a sheet of heavy duty aluminium foil (I used Woolies Select home brand, just don't use the really cheap stuff that tends to be too thin and will tear too easily). Make sure your foil is at least 2cm bigger on all sides so you can wrap it around the back later. Once your board is covered with the foil, smooth it out from the centre with a tissue, and burnish the foil down into and around all the lumps and bumps. Using a cotton bud, rub down into all the small areas so your embossed image stands out. You may find the foil might tear slightly and glue will ooze out, but don't worry, just rub it over with the tissue to remove the excess (remember this PVA dries clear).

When you've got all of the foil firmly secured, use the cotton bud to add designs into the background - lines, crosshatches, swirls, whatever you like. Rub over again with a tissue once you've finished to remove any further excess glue. Leave to dry, then wrap and glue the foil that goes beyond the edge of the board onto the back...the neater your corners, the better it will sit when you frame it.

Rub along all edges with a tissue again to define the edges, then dab some black shoe polish (the kind with the sponge applicator) over the foil, and rub it into the design using the sponge. This will make all your swirls and crosshatches stand out and give it an antique look. I have only done half of the sample in the photo with the polish to give you a before and after shot.

Once you're happy with everything, you can mount it on another bit of coloured board a couple of centimetres bigger, and there you have it, beautiful foil art!

I'm looking forward to see how the grade 2s go with this project when we start it this afternoon. Should be fun. :)