Preserving Fallen Leaves

I love collecting fallen leaves in the autumn. I love all the colors and the crisp feel when you walk through them. (I don't like raking them...ha, ha, ha).

People have different ideas of ways to preserve fall leaves. The one way I have heard is to put them in a book and press them. Well, to me if they are in a book, I can't enjoy their beauty. So I went out the other day and collected a bunch of soft fresh colorful leaves. Brought them in the house and just started thinking, what can I do to these leaves to preserve them and enjoy them?

Here is what I came up with.

You will need:

• a bunch of fresh fallen leaves
• an iron
• 2 towels
• a box of plastic wrap
• scissors

You are ready to begin. Lay out a towel on a counter top. Next cover the towel with a sheet of plastic wrap. Lay all your leaves on the plastic. Then place another sheet of plastic wrap over the leaves.

Place the second towel over the plastic wrap. Using a dry hot iron, start gently ironing over and over the the towel. You can hold the iron in place for a few seconds at a time then move it to another spot. Do this for about 3 minutes. Lift the top towel and you will see that the plastic served as laminating for your leaves.

You can now cut this sheet into a rectangle for a place mat, or into shapes for window decorations, maybe a long sheet as a runner for a table, the ideas are endless. Making these costs next to nothing. It is a great little hobby to do with kids!

Enjoy your fall! :)