This project works best on a nice sunny day with little to no breeze. Start by taking a walk outside to gather leaves, flowers, and other nature finds to make prints from. We found intricate leaves like ferns work particularly well.
Take 1-2 pieces of Nature Print® Sun Sensitive Paper out at a time. Place on a flat surface with the blue side of the paper facing up and place the nature items on top of the paper. Now watch the magic happen! As soon as the paper turns a very light blue it is time to take off the leaves.
The instructions that come with the light sensitive paper says to leave the prints in the sun for up to 2 minutes, but we found it took much less time (30 seconds in full sun) for the paper to turn light blue. When the paper is overexposed the prints do not come out clearly.
Carefully remove the nature items to reveal a dark print on the light blue paper. Keep the prints out of direct sunlight until you’re ready to soak each print in a container of water for 1 minute. The paper will change colors so that the leaf print is now white and the rest of the paper is blue.
Dry the prints on a flat surface. As they are drying I found it helpful to shake off excess water to prevent it from pooling on the print and leaving water marks. I also found it helpful to smooth out any water marks with my finger to create a nice consistent blue color across the print.
Once the prints are completely dry, you can make a garland out of them! This part is easiest for an older child or adult to do. I added our nature prints to these DIY wood banner squares by covering the back of each print with an even layer of Mod Podge®.
Wrap the print around the front of the banner, making sure to align the edge of the print with the bottom of the banner square and smoothing out any air bubbles with your fingers.
Add a little more Mod Podge® to the sides of the banner and wrap the paper around to the back sides.
If you’d like you can add a little extra embellishment with pretty copper foil tape (often found at the hardware store). I edged the top of each print with a strip to give the banner a little metallic sheen.
I hung our garland on our living room mantel – it is the perfect touch of summery decor, and Hazel is proud to see her prints on display!
This project works best on a nice sunny day with little to no breeze. Start by taking a walk outside to gather leaves, flowers, and other nature finds to make prints from. We found intricate leaves like ferns work particularly well.
Take 1-2 pieces of Nature Print® Sun Sensitive Paper out at a time. Place on a flat surface with the blue side of the paper facing up and place the nature items on top of the paper. Now watch the magic happen! As soon as the paper turns a very light blue it is time to take off the leaves.
The instructions that come with the light sensitive paper says to leave the prints in the sun for up to 2 minutes, but we found it took much less time (30 seconds in full sun) for the paper to turn light blue. When the paper is overexposed the prints do not come out clearly.
Carefully remove the nature items to reveal a dark print on the light blue paper. Keep the prints out of direct sunlight until you’re ready to soak each print in a container of water for 1 minute. The paper will change colors so that the leaf print is now white and the rest of the paper is blue.
Dry the prints on a flat surface. As they are drying I found it helpful to shake off excess water to prevent it from pooling on the print and leaving water marks. I also found it helpful to smooth out any water marks with my finger to create a nice consistent blue color across the print.
Once the prints are completely dry, you can make a garland out of them! This part is easiest for an older child or adult to do. I added our nature prints to these DIY wood banner squares by covering the back of each print with an even layer of Mod Podge®.
Wrap the print around the front of the banner, making sure to align the edge of the print with the bottom of the banner square and smoothing out any air bubbles with your fingers.
Add a little more Mod Podge® to the sides of the banner and wrap the paper around to the back sides.
If you’d like you can add a little extra embellishment with pretty copper foil tape (often found at the hardware store). I edged the top of each print with a strip to give the banner a little metallic sheen.
I hung our garland on our living room mantel – it is the perfect touch of summery decor, and Hazel is proud to see her prints on display!
