Fall Leaves Garland

As many of you know I love collecting fall leaves. Last year I learnt that if you Modge Podge the leaves after they have been pressed for a few days in a book they will last for a long time. It occurred to me while I was thinking about Hanukkah garlands that I could easily glue Modge Podged leaves to some natural twine that you get at the hardware store to make an easy "natural" looking fall garland.

Between finding and identifying the leaves with my new book the National Audubon Society Feild Guide to North American Trees: Eastern Edition to Modge Podging the leaves and gluing them onto the twine this makes a great extended project for you and the kids. Below is the tutorial.

Things you will need:
Fall Leaves
Heavy book for pressing
Modge Podge (I used satin this time but I like the way the matte looks better since it is a little less shiny)
Brushes
Wax paper
Twine
Scissors
Hot glue gun or Tacky Glue

1. You need to collect leaves and press them for 3 or 4 days in a heavy book. You don't need to put them all between different pages but make sure they lay flat and are covered when you close the book.

2. Spead out wax paper to apply the Modge Podge on the leaves and spread out another larger piece for the leaves to dry on.

3. Apply Modge Podge to leaves and stems and let them dry on the big piece of wax paper. Make sure to do the other side right after the first side dries. If you don't do it with in an hour or so the leaves may wrinkle up.



4. When dry apply the Modge Podge to the other side of the leaves. If you don't plan on gluing the leaves to the twine you can layer the pieces of wax paper with the dried leaves on each other. If you layer the leaves directly on each other they might stick together.

5. When the other side has dried cover a long area on the floor or on a table with wax paper (you can reuse what you've already used) and spread out the string on the wax paper. Then place the leaves where you think that you will want them. I started from the middle and went out towards the ends to make sure that the garland had a balanced look to it.

6. With a glue gun or Tacky Glue glue on the leaves. If you use Tacky Glue you will need to wait for the glue to dry before moving it or hanging it up.