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DIY Autumn Fairy Wings

My 3 year old decided she wanted to be an autumn nature fairy for Halloween this year, so I set out to make her a pair of autumn themed fairy wings. We had recently used contact paper and some pressed autumn leaves to make placemats with neat autumn leaf art, so I thought I could try using a similar method to make some wings. After a little bit of trial and error, we came up with a method that worked and the wings came out gorgeous!


#thebarefootmom

Instructions:

To make your own set of autumn fairy wings, you will need:
- an old pair of costume wings (Dollar Tree wings work great)
-clear contact paper
-pressed dried leaves 
-scissors
-clear tape
-gold glitter (optional)

Before you can get started making your wings, you will need some autumn leaves. You can buy artificial leaves or collect your own outside and press and dry them inside a heavy book or with a flower press. It typically takes a couple days for the leaves to completely dry. We noticed leaves with really deep colors like red and bright oranges, tend to keep their color as they dry better than lighter colored leaves.



Once you have some leaves pressed and dry, you can start constructing your wings. Start by removing the inner fabric part of the old costume wings, so that you are just left with the wire frame. 

Trace each wing section onto the back side of the clear contact paper and then flip the wings over and trace each section again. Trace them around the outside, not the inside of the wire frame so that each piece will end up just a tiny bit bigger than it's corresponding section of wire frame. 

Choose one section to start with, and cut out the two corresponding wing pieces out of the contact paper. Peel one and gently place some of your dry leaves onto the sticky side of the contact paper. 

Once you have the leaves placed, add a little gold glitter if you want, and carefully line it up under the corresponding section on the wire frame. Peel the other contact paper wing piece, and carefully line it up over the wire frame section and place it sticky side down. Now you should have the leaves and the section of wire frame sandwiched inside the two pieces of contact paper.

Add a little clear tape around the outer edge to help keep the wire frame sealed inside the contact paper.

Repeat the process for the other wing sections. And that's it, now you have a gorgeous pair of autumn fairy wings!


Be aware, these are not meant to last forever, but they held up just fine for a busy evening of trick or treating.


If you enjoyed this post, check out:
-Autumn Leaf Paper Lantern Craft
-Simple Autumn Leaf Craft


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