We went for a walk today and gathered some of the changing leaves. I thought we could reasearch the types of trees and create a notebook including our leaves. What is the best way to preserve leaves?
Pam, I don't know how to preserve them, but a fun activity to do (with parental help) is to take two pieces of wax paper, shave pieces of crayon onto 1 piece, place the leaves on the paper, add more crayon if you want, and iron the pieces of wax paper together. These are fun and really pretty when you are finished.
Sami also likes to put tape the leaf to a piece of paper and then rub the other side with crayon.. it creates and outline and shows all the veins.
We preserve leaves and flowers the old fashioned way: We lay them carefully (flat) on a paper towel, put it in a book, put another paper towel on top, close the book, and wait about two weeks for them to dry. It works well, my ds took a science class and had to do this very large leaf and flower collection, and that's how we preserved his stuff. The notebook with the leafs and flowers on the pages he typed with their name and the scientific name, came out beautifully!
I remember in Biology class I pressed fruit tree leaves by putting them on paper towels and using books for weight. When they were dry I took a large picture frame with glass and covered the back cardboard with a piece of white flannel cloth. I laid each leave on the flannel and the name (that I had typied while the leaves were drying). The last step was carefully laying the glass on the leaves and getting it all into the frame. It hung in our game room for years. I won the overall best exhibit and the only A+. I was so proud of the collection. We lived in Nebraska at the time and my grandmother wrote to her sister in California and got a grapefruit leaf for me. How they managed I don't remember. (It is to cold in Nebraska to grow grapefruit trees)
Syele, The girls and I went for a walk this morning and collected some leaves to do the crayon thing with. They had a ball and when their daddy came inside to get something they had him helping. He told them we would do a thing he had seen where you spray a piece of black construction paper with hairspray and then catch a spider web in the sticky spray. I was wondering if anyone had tried this and exactly how it is supposed to be done. He is dying to try it with them. He is also going to help them make a barometer tonight. They are so excited.
Use the hairspray 3 times. Let it dry the first 2 times and then on the 3rd when it is still wet stick it to your paper. Make sure it stiff paper or black construction paper with cardboard behind it. I was reading it the other day and we are going to try it too. We have a huge spider making a web every night in front of our door, but when I look out she and the web are gone. I think she is taking it down before I look out. We are going to try this too. Sabrina
Ok, question... Couldn't we simply BAKE the leaves in the oven, to dry them? Please let me know, so I do not blow up my kitchen.... hahaha!
Pam, His teacher told him about some spray adhesive that we could get and use. I forget what it's called or where we got it exactly, but it worked very well! You have to spray it on another paper, then pick it up and stick it to the paper you want it on. Your hands get kind of sticky, but it looks good when it's done. I liked it cuz you don't see it, whereas with Elmer's or some other kind like that, you can tell where the glue is.
Jen, Seems like they could start on fire, or get too crispy. The slow drying process of pressing them helps it be more natural and last well, without drying them out too much.
An old unused Yellow Pages type of book is what we use. Every year we dry leaves and spring flowers for later craft projects. Start in the back of the book. Open it so you have at least 20 pages between each set of flowers or leaves. Place the leaves or flowers on the page on the right then turn over at least 20 more pages from the left to cover them and continue working your way from the back to the front. This way you do not have to tape anything down. When you are done place the book somewhere to dry and put something very heavy on top of it. This works great. We have done this for years and the pages of these types of books are very absorbant and do not leave ink marks on what you are drying. When you remove the leaves you start in the back as well and work your way foward. I also have gel like crystals that I got at Michael's in the dry flower section. You sprinkle some on the bottom of a pan, place the leaves over it and sprinkle more over top. You place it in the oven for as long as recommended. I use it once in a while but find that they do not hold their shape as well as pressing but it works alright for a quick project. It also smells strange but is not toxic. Patty
I'm glad you guys spoke up, because I really thought it would be a quick fix idea to pop them in the oven. Oh, well... my imperfections are showing... hahahah!
I used to just put leaves between two pieces of wax paper and iron together. Also you could use two pieces of contact paper.
I've got waxed paper and thought I had seen that before, so I'm trying it that way. Thanks for all the ideas.
