Use Mod Podge to save those beautiful red, yellow, orange and purple fall leaves for this year and the next and the next.
Toss a few newspapers in the back of the car. Anywhere you find gorgeous leaves, gather them and place them between pages of the newspaper. Place another group of papers on top to provide just enough weight to flatten the leaves gently and prevent them from curling.
When you get home, carefully move your stack of papers to an area where they will be undisturbed for a couple weeks. No need to press under heavy books unless you just want to.
I do not press leaves I am going to scatter about on tables, I just let them dry between pages of newspaper. The newspaper prevents curling and cracking but keeps some of the original texture so they appear more "leaf like".
For pressing leaves, flowers and foliage really flat, I use an old sketch pad and press under heavy books for a couple weeks.
Now for the Mod Podge magic part! Once the leaves are dry, gently brush on a coat of matte original Mod Podge and let dry.
Turn over and brush another coat over the back surface and let dry. Repeat with a second coat on each side of your leaf.
It's like magic! Your leaf becomes flexible and supple again, and the original color reappears! And your leaf will last and last for years!
I have never sealed mine with acrylic spray, but you may wish to do so with yours. So far, I haven't found it necessary.
Now - even more Mod Podge magic! Amy of Mod Podge Rocks is giving away a starter pack of five 2 oz. bottles of Mod Podge - one each of Gloss, Matte, Sparkle, Outdoor and Paper! And Amy tells you how to use each one here!
Enter right now! The deadline is midnight, Saturday, September 26th! FIVE winners will be chosen!
What a great way to celebrate just 90 days until Christmas! Thank you Amy! I hope I win! I hope, I hope, I hope!
I used to press leaves in
I used to press leaves in between pieces of parchment paper that I would stick in random books on my shelves. I used them on my hand made greeting cards. Mine were Chinese Tallow leaves. I did nothing to preserve them, except put each card in a sleeve and seal with a sticker. I made them about 15 years ago. I found one other day, opened it, and much to my surprise the leave was still beautiful red and yellow and not falling apart. I may have to put that card in a little frame.
I love your idea of using them for decoration.
I found you through
I found you through Pinterest!..;o)...am now following you on flickr, tried your RSS feed..but it doesn't seem to be working!?
You have a lovely blog and I look forward to trying some of your fabulous ideas...thanks for sharing.
Georgie.x
This will be a wonderful
This will be a wonderful project for the family! Even our 3 yr.old twins can help on this one. We love the fall and now we have something to do with those beautiful leaves we gather on our walks. Thank you!!!
I found your page through
I found your page through pinterest and I would love to win some Mod Podge! Thanks also for the tutorial!
I never knew this! I've been
I never knew this! I've been looking for the perfect way to preserve the colors of fall! Thanks for the GREAT tip!
Christy
Exactly what I was looking
Exactly what I was looking for!! Going on a New England Fall Cruise in two weeks and wanted to save some of the leaves!!
Thank you for the
Thank you for the instructions. I will start collecting leaves very soon and buy Mod Podge. Just found your blog and love it!
Have you ever been to
Have you ever been to www.ModPodgeRocks.com? Its sound like your kind of blog to me. Great projects too!
Yes! Thank you Dana. I have
Yes! Thank you Dana. I have been following Amy for a long time and have even been featured a few times. I am a huge fan both of Amy and of Mod Podge Rocks!
great idea! I am anxious for
great idea! I am anxious for the leaves to turn.
I love Mod Podge! I can't
I love Mod Podge! I can't wait to try this!
My 2 year old granddaughter
My 2 year old granddaughter gave me about a dozen hand picked dried (dead) leaves from our backyard. I'd love to preserve this gift, and although I know what to do with recently picked leaves, the deads ones are a puzzle. My hope was to be eventually be able to place them in a shadow box or frame under glass. Any suggestions? Thanks for your interest and assistance.
I just found this page - this
I just found this page - this is wonderful - I've been saving leaves so I'm all set - that is right after I hit the craft store - to replace my obviously ANCIENT bottle of Mod Podge - seriously it is yellow in the jar and the smell well lets not go there - I think it may have been mine from high school or something and I turned 49 this year - LOL! Gross :)
Fabulous! Too bad we don't
Fabulous! Too bad we don't have much in terms of fall leaves here.
I already have leaves
I already have leaves drying/pressed from a leaf themed week I had last week. Now I know how to make them last longer. Thanks! I just saw this post on One Pretty Thing. I love going into people's wonderful "archives" of posts! Great stuff out there, it just gets lost by time!
Rebecca
Thanks for the tips! I've got
Thanks for the tips! I've got a bunch of leaves drying for Thanksgiving decor!!
I just wanted to thank
I just wanted to thank you...I linked to this post today along with my poem about pressing leaves!
http://poemfarm.blogspot.com/2010/10/free-verse-week-201-preserving-fall...
Yours,
Amy
How exciting! I've only used
How exciting! I've only used the gloss mod podge and have always been curious about the other types. What fun!
I love this project and can't wait to try it out this fall. Thank you for the idea and inspiration!
Thanks for the instructions!
Thanks for the instructions! I'd love to do this to make decorations for a party we're having in October but I don't think I'll have enough time to let the leaves dry before then.
Wow that's a really nice
Wow that's a really nice trick. I love to collect fall leaves but they are so tough to handle after they dries out. But I have a question, can I use Mod Podge-Satin in stead of Matte? I will really appreciate if you will share your experience. Thanks in advance.
What a wonderful crafting
What a wonderful crafting tip! I had no idea. Thank you for sharing!
We loved this idea but have
We loved this idea but have not had positive results. We collected, painted both sides and let them dry. They looked gorgeous!! We moved them to another room and a few days later when we returned they were dried out and very frail. Any tips? Thanks
I am so sorry to hear that
I am so sorry to hear that you had this disappointing experience. A couple things may have contributed to the problem.
First I want to make sure that you did press your leaves between sheets of newspaper and weighted with books for about two weeks before using them, as instructed.
And it is very important to use two thick coats of Mod Podge on each side.
In my own experience, I have found that two thick coats on each side of the leaves is very important in preserving them. I learned that fact the hard way on my wreath. I used whisper thin coats of regular Mod Podge on several leaves as I was trying to use up the last of the bottle. Those leaves have not done very well on the wreath on my front door, becoming dry, crackly and brittle. Thick coats are key. Thickly coated leaves on the wreath seem to be doing just fine.
If your leaves will be displayed anywhere there is moisture in the air, like outside or a steamy kitchen, it would be wise to use outdoor Mod Podge. It does a better job of sealing out the elements. And a coat of Acrylic spray would be a good idea as well for even more protection.
I have had no problem keeping these leaves beautifully in my home for almost a year now. Those pictured at the top of the post were 8 months old when I made the photograph.
Thank you for the reply! We
Thank you for the reply! We are excited to try again. We were in such a rush to have the finished leaves we didn't let them dry out long enough. Love all you ideas, thank you so much for sharing them with all of us.
Well what a nice leaves. I
Well what a nice leaves. I love the purple ones :)
This would be great to do
This would be great to do with my 2 year-old, but I don't have the Mod Podge stuff...is there anything else I can use to preserve them? I'm in Germany so it's hard to find a lot of things for us. Thanks!
oh wow, what a great idea. i
oh wow, what a great idea. i am going to make some and send them to my friends in texas. thanks for the tutorial.
Oh Wow. This is the coolest
Oh Wow. This is the coolest thing! We will be doing this tomorrow.
Thank you!
I knew there had to be an
I knew there had to be an easy way to do this! thanks!
What a great way for the kids
What a great way for the kids to save some beutiful fall leaves!
I can't wait to try this!
I can't wait to try this!
I would love to win this!
I would love to win this! That is such a cute idea, I will be sure to try it!
beautiful! I love mod podge
beautiful! I love mod podge and would love to win this!
Thanks for the idea, Pam!!!
Thanks for the idea, Pam!!! I can't wait to try it with Goose and Binky!
Hope you are well!
Lisa
That is SO cool! I love the
That is SO cool! I love the idea of keeping newspapers in the car. I lost a stack of leaves jsut last week. I'd picked them up on a hike and left them in the back seat. Just one day later they'd curled and broke. What a great idea. Mod Podge is sooo amazing!
I've never tried the stuff,
I've never tried the stuff, but I need to now! I love the idea of saving leaves that way.
I used to refer to duct tape
I used to refer to duct tape as The Force that Binds the Universe- but these days I know it's really mod podge!
Great idea Pam...I'll be
Great idea Pam...I'll be breaking out the mod podge as our leaves are now starting to turn.
Who knew they had come out
Who knew they had come out with all of these new "flavors"?? Great idea - it would be a fun project for kids to gather the leaves.
Pam, I used to do this as a
Pam, I used to do this as a kid when we first moved to Canada. My cousins in Ontario,who I hadnever met before, showed me how to do this. Except I don't remember if we sealed the leaves with anything. We used roses and petals, too.
Great idea! Happy Fall/Autumn!
You come up with the most
You come up with the most fascinating ideas Pam!!!
I just 'happened' to have a bottle of modge podge with me. Now I need to run and get some leaves before we leave on Friday. Autumn with beautiful leaves doesn't happen till March in Az.
I don't know if this is open
I don't know if this is open to international readers but just wanted to say this is a great idea and a wonderful way to captue the beauty of all seasons.
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