Fall Leaf Crafts: How to Make Marbled Polymer Clay Leaves

Learn how to make gorgeous marbled autumn leaf crafts and ornaments with polymer clay with these easy fall clay ideas.

Make leaf crafts that capture the vibrant colors of autumn leaves with these easy fall clay ideas. In this DIY tutorial, you’ll learn how to make stunning fall leaves by marbling polymer clay in rich autumn shades. Think burnt orange, golden yellow, crimson red, deep burgundy, and earthy browns all swirling together to create a vibrant display. The marbling technique gives the clay leaves a unique appearance, where each one has its own distinct pattern of fall colors. You may also enjoy painting fall leaves with watercolors.

Marbled autumn clay leaves are an easy fall leaf craft that you can use as ornaments to decorate bare branches, in addition to many other uses: Hang clay leaf ornaments on a thankful tree, wreath, garlands, or gratitude mobile to add to your DIY fall decor; turn them into pendants for necklaces, earrings, or charms for bracelets and keychains; glue them onto magnets for a festive fridge display; use them as gift tags for a personal handmade touch; or scatter them on your holiday table as reuseable fall decor. You might also enjoy these Thanksgiving Traditions.

Creating gorgeous marbled autumn leaves and other fall leaf crafts is a great project idea for both kids and adults. If your kids enjoy baking cookies, they will love making marbled polymer clay autumn leaves! Try this fall leaf craft idea with your children at home or in the classroom this autumn. First published on November 3, 2017, this DIY clay fall leaf tutorial has been updated to enhance its content. Scroll down for the craft materials and step-by-step instructions to make fall leaves out of clay.

Related: Fall Books for Kids: Autumn Stories Children LOVE!

Fall Leaf Craft Idea: Marbled Clay Fall Leaves

A few years ago, my daughter and I made marbled clay handprint ring bowls to give as gifts to her grandparents. As we made them, we thought it would be fun to use the same polymer clay marbling process with autumn colors to create fall leaf ornaments for our thankful tree, and they turned out beautifully. Transform your fall leaf crafts into gratitude leaves that look amazing on a thankful tree or gratitude mobile.

As you can see in the photographs, polymer clay autumn leaves look lovely hanging on bare branches. Because marbling polymer clay with autumn colors turned out to be a beautiful fall leaf craft idea, I decided to share this DIY tutorial with you. Make marbled autumn leaves out of clay with this simple fall clay project for kids and adults. Scroll down for the simple step-by-step clay fall leaf tutorial. You may also enjoy this list of Fall Crafts and Activities for Kids.

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How to Make Marbled Polymer Clay Fall Leaves: Step-by-Step Directions

Children will love making these gorgeous clay fall leaf crafts for kids. First, learn how to make polymer clay leaves with this step-by-step tutorial. Then gather the supplies from the list below. A step-by-step photo tutorial is available to guide you through creating the fall leaf crafts below, in addition to the written instructions.

Make autumn leaf crafts with your children at home or in the classroom. Once finished with your clay fall leaves, you can use them in lots of creative ways. For example, marbled clay autumn leaves make beautiful ornaments to hang on bare branches and thankful trees, and they also look fantastic when made into fall wreaths and leaf garlands.

Fall Leaf Craft Project Materials:

• Polymer clay
• Rolling pin or acrylic clay roller
• Glass cutting mat
• Leaf cookie cutters (or try THESE, or THESE leaf shapes)
• Oven-bake clay bond and glaze pack (optional)

Related: The Best Fall Art Projects for Kids

1. Select at least 2-4 colors of polymer clay and roll them into snakes:

• Make different-sized polymer clay snakes (thin vs. thick) to vary the marbled clay effect, as shown in the photo tutorial below the instructions.
• Use a variety of colors to make beautiful marbled clay autumn leaf crafts.
• Use any combination of yellow, gold, copper, orange, red, and burgundy or maroon. You can also use a touch of green or brown if desired.
• Metallic clay tones, such as gold or copper, look lovely in marbled leaf crafts.

2. Twist several polymer clay snakes of different colors together:

• Grab a few snakes of polymer clay in different colors and twist them together into one twisted roll of clay snakes.

3. Roll the twisted marbled clay into a ball and use a rolling pin to flatten it:

• Next, roll the twisted marbled clay into a ball and flatten it with a clay roller or a rolling pin.
• Want more swirls? Roll the ball of clay into a snake again, fold it in half, twist it tightly, roll it back into a ball, and use a rolling pin to flatten it once more.

4. Cut autumn leaves with a fall leaf cookie cutter:

• Use fall leaf cookie cutters to make autumn leaves.
• If you don’t have autumn leaf cookie cutters, you can use an Exacto knife to trace a real leaf, or create your own leaves as an alternative.
• Note: My daughter and I used this glass cutting mat to roll out and cut the clay autumn leaves in the photographs for this DIY tutorial. Some colors of polyform clay can stain skin and work surfaces. I recommend using a glass mat to protect your work surface from both stains and cuts when making these fall clay ideas.

5. Create a hole in the base or the tip of each leaf (Optional):

• If you’d like to hang the leaves as an ornament, earrings, a pendant for a necklace, etc., make a hole near the base or the tip of the leaf with the end of a straw, a precision knife, or a chopstick.
• This step is optional; skip to the next step if you don’t want any holes in the leaves.
• Cutting a hole in the leaf before baking will make it easy to create a hanger for it once it is finished.

6. Reuse scraps to make more fall leaf crafts:

• Roll your polymer clay scraps into a snake and reuse them to make more autumn leaf crafts, as shown in the photograph below.
• Add more clay and mix the leftover scraps with new polymer clay snakes to create additional fall leaves.
• Repeat as needed.

7. Bake the polymer clay autumn leaf crafts according to the manufacturer’s directions:

• Before baking the leaves, ensure they have a hole at the base or the tip of the leaf to make it easy to add a hanger to them later, if desired.
• If you’d like to stamp words to represent what you are grateful for to create thankful ornaments, also ensure that this step is complete before baking the clay leaves.
  • Alternatively, you can use a paint pen to write words on them after they are baked.
• Place marbled clay fall leaves on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
• Bake the fall leaves according to the manufacturer’s directions for the clay.
• I cooked the fall leaf crafts in the photographs for 15-20 minutes at 275°F.
• Please ensure that the clay is completely cool before proceeding to the next step.

8. Seal and protect polymer clay fall leaves (optional):

• Use oven-bake clay bond and glaze to seal and preserve polymer clay autumn leaves if desired.
• This step is optional; the leaves pictured do not have a glaze applied.

9. Use fall leaf crafts to make more fall Clay Ideas (optional):

Use the ideas below to make more autumn leaf crafts. Try any of the fun DIY fall home decor ideas listed below:

• Hang marbled clay fall leaves as ornaments on bare branches.
• Use a white or fine-tip gold paint pen to write what you are most grateful for on them before hanging them on a thankful tree.
• Use fall leaf crafts to make a DIY autumn wreath or garland.
• Make a gratitude mobile with your autumn leaves!
• A few more uses for clay leaf crafts are provided below the photo tutorial.

Related: Clay Gratitude Leaves Thanksgiving Craft

How to Make Marbled Clay Autumn Leaves: Step-by-Step Photo Tutorial

The photo tutorial below demonstrates how to create clay leaves using marbled polymer clay. Creating leaves out of marbled polymer clay is a fun craft idea for both kids and adults!

Related: Nature Crafts and Nature Activities That Use Natural Materials

Uses for Finished Fall Clay Leaves:

Here are several different ways you can use these clay leaf crafts:

• Use them as ornaments to decorate bare branches in the fall.
• Hang them as fall leaf ornaments on a thankful tree, wreath, garlands, or gratitude mobile to add to your DIY fall decor.
• Turn them into pendants for necklaces, earrings, or charms for bracelets and keychains.
• Glue them onto magnets for a festive fridge display.
• Turn them into gift tags for a personal, handmade touch.
• Scatter them on your holiday table as reusable fall decor.
  • Decorate your Thanksgiving dinner table with clay leaf scatter.
• Hang them from branches and scatter them on the table for an autumn wedding.

DIY Marbled Clay Autumn Leaves: Fall Leaf Crafts for Kids, Teens, and Adults!

Making marbled autumn leaves is a fun project for the whole family. Turn them into gratitude leaves for your thankful tree, wreath, garland, or gratitude mobile for even more fall clay ideas. Or use homemade clay leaves to create other fall decor that requires colorful autumn leaves.

This easy fall leaf craft idea can also be transformed into homemade leaf gift tags for a fall birthday or used as a table scatter for any autumn-themed event, such as a fall wedding, fall harvest celebration, Thanksgiving, or another special occasion.

Creating fall leaves is a great way to connect with the kids. If your kids enjoy baking cookies, they will love making marbled clay autumn leaves! Speaking of cookies, this easy sugar cookie recipe is a hit at our house. And they are incredibly easy to make as a holiday kindness project.

You might also enjoy these fall activities with a printable bucket list!

Learn more about Nell Regan Kartychok, author, photographer, and creator of this original clay leaf craft HERE, and Rhythms of Play HERE!

More Fall Leaf Arts and Crafts

• How to Preserve Fall Leaves
• Fall Leaves Watercolor Resist Art
• Best Fall Nature Crafts
• How to Make a Thankful Tree with Real Fall Leaves
• Fall Leaf Sewing Project for Kids
• Turkey Leaf Lanterns Thanksgiving Craft
• Best Fall Art Projects for Kids
• Watercolor and Fall Leaves Art
• Leaf Baby Book Inspired Fall Leaf Crafts

If You Like Crafting with Fall Leaves, You May Also Like These Fun Fall Activities:

• 10 Ways to Have Fun Outside with Fall Leaves
• Fall Bucket List of Fun Fall Activities for Kids
• Rainy Day Activities: 20 Fun Things to Do on a Rainy Day
• Get Lost in a Corn Maze
• Visit a Pumpkin Patch
• Apple Orchard Field Trip Ideas
• Thanksgiving Traditions: Fun Things to do on Thanksgiving