How to make a fall leaf bowl on a balloon

DIY Leaf Bowl

This leaf bowl made from artificial leaves and fabric stiffener is so cute! This DIY fall decor is so fun to make – the perfect craft for Halloween or Thanksgiving!

How to make a fall leaf bowl on a balloon

 

Fall Leaf Bowl

This bowl made out of fabric leaves just screams fall! It’s such a simple, pretty, and creative DIY project for autumn, Halloween, and Thanksgiving.

We made these fall leaf bowls by pressing artificial leaves onto a balloon with fabric stiffening glue. These are lightweight bowls that are good for smaller decorations, like chunky yarn pumpkins, and they also make great candy bowls!

This is such a great craft that can be made with leaves from the dollar store. Fabric leaves can be a bit fiddly to work with, but hopefully our tips (see them below!) will help you out!

Check out our DIY Leaf Bowl video tutorial:

*Note: Scroll down for the step-by-step photo tutorial.

Looking for more fall leaf crafts? Here’s a few of our favourites:

Mason Jar Leaf Lanterns

Marbled Fall Leaves Painting

Fall Leaf Chalk Art

Two leaf bowls, one filled with candyTwo leaf bowls, one filled with candy

Here’s what you’ll need:

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The full printable instructions are at the end of this post, but here’s a list of products on Amazon and Target that are similar to the supplies we used:

Supplies for making a leaf bowlSupplies for making a leaf bowl

What kind of leaves do I need?

In order for this craft to work you need to use thin, flexible leaves that are as close to plain fabric as you can get. If the leaves are very stiff and have a plastic or waxy coating on them, they won’t lay flat on the balloon and may not stick to one another.

We bought leaf bunches (attached to plastic stems) at the dollar store that felt soft and flexible.

Do I have to iron the leaves?

Yes – I would recommend ironing the leaves. Dollar store leaves tend to come with a wrinkled texture which makes it really difficult for them to lay flat and stick to the balloon. Ironing leaves isn’t the most exciting thing to do, but it will make assembling the bowl a lot easier!

DIY leaf bowl filled with candyDIY leaf bowl filled with candy

Can I use Mod Podge or regular glue instead?

You can use Mod Podge and regular glue, but you probably won’t be happy with the results (especially regular glue). We made a test bowl using Mod Podge and not only was it difficult to get the leaves to stick to each other, but the finished bowl was also really flexible. The leaves rolled in towards the middle rather than keeping a firm bowl shape.

The bowls we made with Aleene’s Fabric Stiffener held their shape really well. You could probably use Mod Podge Stiffy, which is also a fabric stiffener, but I haven’t personally used it before.

Can I make a leaf bowl without a balloon?

Yes, you can! Simply cover the outside of your favourite bowl shape in plastic wrap and attach the leaves to the plastic covered bowl instead of a balloon.

Let the leaves on the outside of the bowl dry for a few hours and then remove them and the plastic wrap from the bowl. Peel away the plastic from the inside of the leaf bowl and let it dry for another hour or two.

Three fall coloured leaf bowlsThree fall coloured leaf bowls

How to Make a Leaf Bowl

This leaf bowl made from fabric leaves and fabric stiffener is so cute! It’s really easy to make, and it’s a great DIY decoration for fall.

Materials:

Equipment:

Instructions:

Step 1: Prepare leaves

  • Cut or pull off the leaves you’d like to use, separating them from the bunch.
    Leaf BowlLeaf Bowl
  • Remove the plastic ribs from the leaves if they have any. Usually this plastic peels off easily, but sometimes you’ll need to use your fingernail to scrape them off. Make sure you’ve also picked off any dried glue from the leaves.
    Leaf BowlLeaf Bowl
  • Iron the leaves on medium temperature, removing any creases and flattening them down. If you feel any kind of waxy or plastic texture, be sure to iron your leaves between 2 pieces of parchment paper.
    Leaf BowlLeaf Bowl

Step 2: Add leaves to balloon

  • Blow up a balloon and tie a knot in the neck.Place the balloon in a bowl, neck down. You need a bowl that is deep enough and wide enough to hold at least 1/3 of the balloon so it doesn’t move around while you work on it.
    Leaf BowlLeaf Bowl
  • Add around 1/4 cup of fabric stiffening glue to a bowl or plate.
    Leaf BowlLeaf Bowl
  • Brush a thin layer of fabric stiffening glue over the top part of the balloon.
    Leaf BowlLeaf Bowl
  • Place a fabric leaf in the center of the balloon. This will be the center bottom of your bowl.
    Leaf BowlLeaf Bowl
  • Add a layer of fabric stiffener over top of the leaf.
    Leaf BowlLeaf Bowl
  • Now add a second leaf, overlapping the first one. Place this leaf with the points down. Brush more fabric stiffener on top.
    Leaf BowlLeaf Bowl
  • Continue this pattern, working around the balloon and adding more leaves with the points down.Make sure you have a layer of fabric stiffener underneath and on top of every leaf you place.
    Leaf BowlLeaf Bowl
  • Keep adding leaves until you’re happy with the depth of the bowl.Once you’ve finished, double check that all the leaves are stuck down well, and add more fabric stiffener where needed.
    Leaf BowlLeaf Bowl
  • Allow the bowl to dry for about 3 hours or until it’s dry to the touch.
    Leaf BowlLeaf Bowl

Step 3: Deflate balloon

  • Remove the balloon from the bowl.
    Leaf BowlLeaf Bowl
  • Cut a small hole in the balloon close to the knot.
    Leaf BowlLeaf Bowl
  • Allow the balloon to deflate slowly, peeling the leaf bowl away from the balloon.
    Leaf BowlLeaf Bowl
  • Once you’ve removed the balloon you can also remove the excess dried fabric stiffener from around the top of the bowl.Most of it is easily removed just by picking it off with your fingers, but some you may want to cut with scissors.
    Leaf BowlLeaf Bowl
  • Re-shape the bowl so it’s nice and round.
    Leaf BowlLeaf Bowl
  • Your leaf bowl is complete!
    Leaf BowlLeaf Bowl

Helpful Tip:

If your bowl (that holds the balloon) is lightweight you can tape it to your working surface to help stabilize it – it’s so much easier to work on the balloon when the bowl isn’t sliding around!Choose a balloon colour that contrasts with the leaf colours so you can easily make sure there aren’t any gaps between the leaves.

Homemade leaf candy bowlHomemade leaf candy bowl

Use your DIY leaf bowl as a centerpiece or place it on a side table. Use it as a candy bowl or fill it with fall decorations – like pinecones, acorns, or pot pourri – or even set it by the door to hold keys and sunglasses.

Pin image for DIY leaf bowl craftPin image for DIY leaf bowl craft

Here’s even more fall leaf craft ideas:

Mason Jar Leaf Lanterns

Mason jar leaf lanternsMason jar leaf lanterns

Marbled Fall Leaves Painting

Marbled fall leaves paintingMarbled fall leaves painting

Fall Leaf Chalk Art

Fall leaf chalk artFall leaf chalk art

Our book Low-Mess Crafts for Kids is loaded with 72 fun and simple craft ideas for kids! The projects are fun, easy and most importantly low-mess, so the clean up is simple!

Low Mess Crafts for Kids BookLow Mess Crafts for Kids Book

Where to buy:

You can purchase Low-Mess Crafts for Kids from Amazon, or wherever books are sold:

Amazon  |  Barnes and Noble  |   Books- A- Million  |   Indiebound  |  Indigo  |  Amazon Canada