I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.
—Anne of Green Gables
The leaves are ablaze against a blue bowl of sky, and the asters, golden rod and ironweed add happy highlights. It’s time to preserve some of this splendor for the coming winter.
When I was a child, my mom helped me flatten leaves and iron them between sheets of waxed paper. Then she cut frames out of black construction paper and hung my “stained glass creations” in the den window. Sometimes, Mom taped the waxed paper onto white cardboard and we would set the table with leafy placemats.
Other days, as we scuffed home from school, my sister and I gathered the brightest maple and oak leaves we could find. Then, we raced home, cut old cereal boxes into crowns, and glued the leaves all around. The beautiful fall tiaras made us the Queens of the Autumn Court. Like fall, though, the magic was ephemeral. By the next morning our royal regalia was faded, crumbly and curled.
I still love to create with nature, and fall offers so many opportunities for fun. Here are a few of my current favorite leaf crafts.
To preserve supple leaves that will last for years, you will want to soak them in a glycerin-water bath. All you need are a collection of flat leaves and a bottle of vegetable glycerin which you can find at a pharmacy, big box store, or grocery store.
Pour 1 part glycerin and 2 parts water into a pie plate and mix well. Trim the stems. Then layer the leaves in the glycerin mixture, press down with a plate so that they are fully submerged, and wait.
When the glycerin is absorbed, usually in three to four days, take the leaves out and spread them on paper towels to dry. Yellows and greens hold their colors best, while red fades a bit. Still, the result is quite lovely. I like Mod-Podging my finished leaves on the outside of Mason jars and then placing small candles inside. The leaves are also pretty taped directly to a window.
Another way to save the leaves and many of the beautiful fall flowers you find is to press them. This is so easy that I’ve done it with kids. Gather some newsprint or an old phone book and some heavy books to weight things down. Of course, if you have a flower press, all the better.
Space your flowers and leaves at least an inch apart on the sheets of paper or between the pages of the phone book. Then place your stack in an out-of-the way spot and load three or four heavy books on top. In two weeks, you will have some lovely leaves, petals and flowers to press between sheets of clear contact paper for window decorations, or to glue to white paper and laminate for bookmarks. These, by the way, make lovely gifts.
There are so many other ways to use and preserve the colors of fall. I encourage you to do an internet search. The best part? Gathering your materials is a great excuse for a hike on a crisp fall day.
So, go on. Make yourself a crown of leaves and grab your walking stick. You will be king or queen of the forest, and as you ramble about your domain, you can collect more treasure to store away for a rainy day.
The story above appears in our September/October 2019 issue.
