How To Make Beautiful Coffee Filter Leaves

This is not your average Fall leaf art project! These coffee filter leaves turn out to be so pretty, yet are incredibly easy to make. Get all our tips for making amazing leaf art with kids in minutes!

coffee filters painted like Fall leaves.

I love the colors of Fall and creating different leaf art projects. From marker leaf prints to silly Leaf Man collages, there is always a fun way to be inspired by nature. These coffee filter leaves top the list as one of my favorite Fall art projects for kids!

Why You Will Love This Art Idea

MODIFY FOR ANY AGE – For younger artists, adults can cut the leaves or even put the glue on.
COLOR MIXING – Any aged child will love seeing the colors mixed while painting the coffee filters.
CAN MODIFY SUPPLIES – You don’t have to add glue if you don’t want to wait for it to dry.

Supplies You’ll Need

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links when clicked, we may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. Read our full privacy policy.

Coffee Filters
Scissors
Bottled Glue
Watercolor Paints

coffee filter, glue, leaf, scissors and watercolor paints on baking sheet.

Notes On Supplies

ANY WATER WILL WORK – I normally want to use liquid watercolors for the vibrant colors; however, we did not notice a big difference between using a regular palette or liquid paints.
GLUE – Using this type of bottled glue will help prevent the line from getting too sticky when wet with paint.

How To Make Coffee Filter Leaves

BEFORE YOU BEGIN – Set up a work area. I found that working on a baking sheet or using extra paper helped prevent the glue from sticking when the glue lines dried.

scissors cutting leaf shape from a coffee filter.

Step 1: Trace and Cut Leaves

You can use real leaves to trace different shaped leaves before cutting them out.

Step 2: Draw Veins

With a glue bottle, carefully draw lines to represent the veins of the leaves. Let the glue dry completely.

paint brush adding watercolor paint to coffee filter leaf shape.

Step 3: Paint The Leaf

Use colors that will mix well together to paint your leaf. The glue should resist the paint.

Step 4: Let Dry

You will need to allow these to dry for several hours on a separate sheet of paper or baking sheet.

Tips

USE LITTLE GLUE – Try to avoid large globs of glue on the coffee filter.
USE OIL PASTEL INSTEAD – If a child can not draw with a glue bottle, you could draw lines with an oil pastel.
PRE-CUT – For preschool and younger artists, an adult may want to precut the leaves.
SHOULD NOT STICK – If there is too much glue, the leaf may stick. Don’t work directly on a table. Once the glue dries, you should be able to peel the leaf up.

Whether for the classroom or at home, this colorful coffee filter leaf craft makes the perfect seasonal project to try. Kids will love watching the colors blended to create beautiful leaf art.