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Preserving Autumn Leaves My oldest daughter recently completed a leaf collection for a school project, but they really missed out. Instead of collecting regular everyday green leaves, how pretty an array of red, orange and yellow would have been! Besides the old fashioned way of drying flowers and leaves between sheets of paper under a heavy book, here's a few more tips for preserving those beautiful reminders of Autumn. Wax Paper Take the leaves and place them between two paper towels. Dry one side of the leaves by ironing them for 10 minutes, on medium heat without steam (move iron continuously). Then turn the leaves over and using a fresh paper towel, repeat process for about 5 minutes. Now take the dried leaves and place them in-between two sheets of waxed paper, waxy side against the leaves. Add another sheet of waxed paper to protect the iron and press them again for a minute or so, until the leaves are coated with wax. Now, peel off the waxed paper and see how the leaves have become beautifully preserved. Microwave Try drying your leaves in the microwave oven, by placing them between double layers of paper towels. Start with 30 seconds and continue until the leaves are completely dry (use caution as leaves can catch on fire.) Glycerin We found two ways of using Glycerin to preserve leaves, the first is to place the leaves in a flat pan in a single layer, then cover with a mixture of one part glycerin and two parts water. Then weight the leaves down to keep them submerged for 2-6 days. Remove the leaves and dry with paper towels. The second way is to bring the mixture of 1 part glycerin and 2 parts water to a boil in a saucepan. Pour the mixture into a heat-proof container and submerge a few leaves. Keep in a dark, cool place until the leaves begin to change color slightly. Remove the leaves and dry with paper towels. Going, Going... Whichever way you choose to preserve those beautiful Autumn leaves is fine, just make sure to collect them before they're gone!
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Copyright 2002 by Michelle Jones
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