Preserving Fall

Such fleeting beauty this time of year....

We've had some gorgeous days!

And, when I was reminded of the the old craft of dipping leaves in wax I thought it was time to try it and hopefully preserve a little of this glorious time for awhile!

The Instagram video I posted of dipping the leaves will be at the bottom of this post.

Well, I dipped quite a few.

And, the next day, my girls dipped quite a few.

So, now I have a bowl of leaves

and, not one,

but two wreaths!  The first used a grapevine wreath with the leaves hot glued on.

This second one has for it's base a cereal box cut into a circle.

Sooooooo pretty to have in your house!

We also have two jars of leaves. :) 

You may remember my "summer in a jar".  Now I have fall in a jar.  This is my kind of "scrapbooking"!

So then I wondered what would happen if you dipped a small branch with the leaves still hanging on...would that work?  It sure did!  I put some foam in a tin can and arranged the small branches and added some plain tiny branches too.

Preserved just like they were outside.  I don't have to worry about storing this as it cost only the little bit for the paraffin wax.  I can toss it when we decorate for Christmas.  

Truly, enjoyable to do! The leaves are velvety smooth to the touch.  I think that's what the little girls liked the most, feeling the waxed leaves.

Things to keep in mind:  keep your heat LOW, wax is flammable. When you use a hot glue gun to affix the leaves, it will melt the wax on the leaves too so you need to go a bit slow allowing the wax and the glue to set up before moving on.

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