How to Preserve Fall Leaves With Wax
Collecting autumn leaves is an enjoyable activity. Children love to bring their mother a pretty leaf. People bring back leaves as souvenirs from leaf-peeping expeditions. These leaves will lose their color and beauty if they are left to dry naturally. Preserve leaves with a wax coating to help them retain their color for many years. You may use beeswax, which has a wonderful honeylike scent, or less expensive paraffin wax. Does this Spark an idea?
Things You'll Need
- Leaves
- Wax paper
- Iron
- Cotton fabric
- Old double boiler
- Wax
- Knife
- Kitchen towel
- Needle-nose pliers
- Scrap paper
Instructions
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1
Place two layers of cotton fabric on the ironing board to protect it from the wax. Place a sheet of wax paper, wax side up, on top of the fabric. Place a leaf on one side of the paper and fold the other side over it.
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2
Place two more layers of fabric on top of the paper to protect your iron. Iron the leaves on low heat until they are flat and have a light wax coating. The wax paper puts a light layer of wax on the top and bottom of the leaves that flattens the leaves. Remove the leaves from between the paper.
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3
Shave about 2 inches of wax into the top of the double boiler. Fill the lower part of the double boiler to a level just below the bottom of the top part. Melt the wax over boiling water. There should be about 1/2 inch of melted wax. Remove the double boiler from the heat. Set the upper part on a kitchen towel.
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4
Hold the stem of the leaf with the pliers and dip it into the melted wax. Set it aside to dry on scrap paper. It should dry in less than a minute.
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Tips & Warnings
Use fresh leaves for best results.
Use an old pillowcase for your pressing cloth. It is the right size to fold over the paper and provide two layers of cloth on each side.
You may need to tilt the pot of wax to fully immerse the leaves.
Do not iron the wax paper layers together.
References
- Photo Credit Thomas Northcut/Photodisc/Getty Images
