Pressed Leaves

  
It seems that the second the trees burst into their full glory, I'm already looking for ways to capture reminders of the season. It must be the Southerner in me. I like pressed botanicals, but I don't necessarily want them hanging on my walls; I like to prop them up on bookshelves or in glass-fronted cabinets, among other treasures. 

For casual display, I use canvas panels that I find at art or craft stores. They're sturdy, yet thin and lightweight. For longevity, I use acid-free materials, from my papers to my adhesive. I cover the panels with decorative paper, wrapping it around the canvas panel and securing it to the back with strong, double-sided tape. After that, I mount copies of old ledger pages or letters to the front of the paper covered canvas, using either spray adhesive or my trusty double-sided tape. I follow that by mounting pressed leaves on the paper covered panel, sometimes using a piece of archival tape to attach the leaf and other times using simple white craft glue. (Use trial and error to see what works for you. Some leaves are very flat and glue can easily be brushed onto them. For feathery specimens, I tend to just tape the stem to the paper.) 

Pressing leaves isn't complicated and you don't need a fancy flower press, though it can be a convenient thing to have if you tend to gather leaves while in transit. For the average person, all you need to do is place your leaves between the pages of a book (telephone books or dictionaries are ideal), making sure that the leaves don't touch each other. Weight the book with a heavy object or a stack of books on top and wait one to two weeks. For best results, select leaves that don't show any signs of mold or rot and pick them on a dry day, so that there's no excess moisture. Also, pressed leaves can be fragile, so tweezers are a good tool for transferring delicate items. Finally, know that the leaves will fade naturally over time. To delay the process, you can keep them out of direct sunlight.

Download Ledger Pages

French Letter clip art available from The Vintage Workshop (the color of the design was altered in Photoshop)  

Comments

[KatieJ]

I love this idea- bookmarked in my "to do" file!

[ZacksNana]

lovely as usual Suzonne. not for every household, but they would be so lovely and bring a nice open airy feel to any living room/den/bedroom. I like!!! :O)