I had some leaves from my last year’s Fall decor and they were just sitting in my storage bins. I didn’t really have any ideas of where to put them so I decided to use them for a DIY project. I had a bunch of left over spray paint in my closet which worked perfect for this project. Spray paint is so cheap and can be used for so many things. If I were buying spray paint for this project, I know I would use these colors later on for other projects too so it would make me feel a little better about buying spray paint just to paint some cheap leaves for Fall decor. First I just pulled leaves from this swag and these other faux leaves. You can find leaves similar to these at the Dollar Tree. 
I always wear a mask when I’m spray painting. Be safe and mask up because this stuff is lethal smelling. I first used a matte black spray paint and covered most of the leaf. I then lightly sprayed on a mirror image spray paint to allow the black to continue to show underneath. I had this mirror image spray paint on hand but any silver spray paint would work as well. I did the same thing with a Krylon “caramel latte” spray paint that I had as well. Lightly spraying the silver and the caramel latte added more dimension to the leaf colors. Any color of spray paint would do for this project, having a variation of colored leaves would be beautiful. I just grabbed what I had on hand and made it work.
I only painted the front side. When I was finished spraying all three colors, I went back and sprayed them lightly again with the black, making sure not to cover up the other colors. After spraying the black on again, I did the same with the other two colors, using lightly in various spots around the leaves. When I had the look that I was going for, I let them dry. This is a project that can’t be messed up. More paint can always be added and layered, over and over as much as you like until you acheive the look that you are going for. And this is such a quick project. I think it took me about 3-5 minutes to spray paint all of these leaves. If I had a copper spray paint on hand, I would have used that color as well but I was going for “cheap” and quick. And that’s just want I ended up with…faux metal leaves for free!
I love the way they turned out and the little bit of dimension it gives to my wall space here beside my diy kitchen shelves. I used clear scotch tape on the backs of the leaves to hang them up, trying to mimic the look of them falling from a tree, you know, all of those metal trees out there? I know there is no such thing as a metal tree but I’ve been loving all of the metal leaf decor that I am seeing and what a budget friendly way to make my own since I had all of the supplies. You can find my diy tutorial for this sign made without a stencil, here.
Thanks for joining me alongside my faux metal leaves project. There are so many options when it comes to painting faux leaves. I would love to see your leaf projects too! Please tag me on Instagram (@vintageporch) if you make some of your own. Have a wonderful day!
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