Preserving Crunchy Fall Leaves

Hi!

It's cloudy and cool today--perfect fall weather! Because I was in a fallish type of mood, I decided it was a great time to preserve some fall leaves. Well, I use the word preserve lightly because these leaves were not in great shape. The kids had collected some leaves when we recently took a trip up north, and my youngest did not want to let go of his new treasures. 

Needless to say, the leaves were in sorry shape, but the colors were still vivid. Because we all had such a wonderful time that day, I wanted to try to preserve the great memories, even if I couldn't exactly preserve the leaves! I had planned to frame a couple, and since the leaves were now kind of wrinkled and crunchy, I thought a vintage look would work best.

Here are the two specimens I was working with.

As you can see, one leaf has a chunk missing from one side, and the other one is pretty wrinkled. The only challenging part of this entire craft was getting the leaves smooth enough in the frame. Other than that, this was a quick and easy craft!  The only supplies I needed were some burlap ribbon, card stock, a picture frame and a pair of scissors.

I trimmed the cardstock with scrapbooking scissors until it fit the frame. The fabric is very rough, and I thought a ragged edge might help the burlap fit better around the paper. I already had a frame, and I distressed it with some sandpaper to make it look old and worn.

I wrapped the burlap over the card stock and glued the top edges in place.

The paper is still visible under the burlap, so it gives it a nice background color. Then, I arranged the leaves on top of the burlap. I didn't even bother gluing them in place because I figured the glass would be tight enough to hold them down.

I was able to cover up the missing chunk of leaf by placing part of the larger 
leaf over the smaller one. I think it looks more natural this way. Then, I just put the glass over the leaves and fit the arrangement into the wooden frame.

The leaves don't look so bad under the frame, and the distressed frame helps add to the vintage look I was going for. It kind of looks like we've had these old fall leaves forever. The kids didn't mind that I used the leaves this way, and I'm glad I was able to preserve the leaves and some fun family memories!

Do you keep fall leaves around your home?

Thanks so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to visit with me today. I love having company!

Dee 🙂