As you may or may not know, I am a Contributing Editor at Country Living Magazine. I owe that position to one very special person, former Senior Editor of Country Living, Jourdan Crouch Fairchild. Jourdan found me in 2009 and I adored working with her on many exciting crafty projects monthly for CL. She now lives in Chicago with her new husband and is working on some new creative ventures of her own. You can find her at JourdanCrouchFairchild.com. I’m so happy to know her as a friend and thrilled to have her as a guest blogger on JSIM. Thank you Jourdan!

Decoupaged Leaf Trays by Jourdan Crouch Fairchild

If you’re a leaf lover like I am, then you’ll fall for this pretty decoupage project. I started by gathering several handfuls of beautiful leaves around my neighborhood, then pressing them between book pages for several days at a time. Be sure to layer with wax paper, so that your book pages won’t wrinkle with moisture. And as anyone familiar with DIY projects can attest, sometimes you have to play with things a few times until you get it right. Follow along to see what I did next:

Cover a work surface with scrap paper. Lay down a piece of felt or paper—preferably in the color you’ll be using on the tray (which was black for one of my trays). Arrange the leaves atop the surface then carefully place a glass tray (Behrenber Glass has the widest selection) atop the leaves. Continue to lift the tray each time you want to arrange the leaves below until you’ve reached a desired placement. Take a photo if it’ll help you remember where you placed the leaves.
Clear your work surface, then flip over the glass tray so that it’s bottom side faces up. Using a sponge brush and Modge Podge glue, coat the colorful side of a pressed leaf with glue and affix in place on the tray. (My first goof: I initially covered the entire tray with glue, but then once the glue dried, I didn’t like the sheen that the glue added to the parts of the tray not covered with leaves. So I ended up using a wet paper towel and my fingers to rub off the glue in those areas.). Repeat with each leaf until the tray is covered. Let dry overnight. Note: You can also use spray adhesive to affix leaves in place, which is what I did with my gold tray. Whatever method you choose, be sure to use leaves that are completely dry so that they maintain their color.Working in a well-ventilated space (like my ugly front staircase, which you can just ignore) with the tray still facing upside down, cover the tray with spray paint. Let dry for 20 minutes; add a second coat.Finish things off by cutting a piece of felt to cover the base of the tray. Use spray adhesive to affix the felt in place.Beautiful project- Thank you Jourdan!