Crafting with Skeletal Leaves

Our trees took a beating this year. We are in an area of the country that saw record highs and drought conditions. Even though many of the trees dropped their leaves early, and the skyline looks pretty pitiful, look down; there is beauty all over the ground.

As I was walking through our leaf covered back yard, I noticed a skeletal leaf. All that was left was the veins and basic structure. Even though it was brown and crunchy, I was fascinated. I challenged my children to help me find as many different kinds of skeletal leaves as they could. It was a big game that went on for days with each child trying to find a more unique leaf than the last. I ended up with a stack of skeletal leaves that I sorted through until I found four leaves that were unique and whole with no tears.

I put these four leaves on separate pieces of wax paper and sprayed them with fabric stiffener until they were thoroughly soaked and then allowed them to dry over night. Once dry, I carefully, and I stress carefully, peeled the leaves off of the wax paper. Now it is time to mount them. There are a number of ways to mount the leaves but I found that the simplest way for my children was to lightly brush craft glue onto the backs of the leaves and then gently smooth them onto black velvet squares. I have since decided that the next time we do this craft project, I will smooth the leaves onto the velvet directly after soaking them with the fabric stiffener.
The last step is to frame your craft project. I have found that cheap, black frames from any discount store look very nice when hung with the leaves in a grouping.
All three of my children want their own leaf grouping on their bedroom walls now. It is a craft that gets them outside, promotes healthy competition as well as exploring and using their hands to create a piece of art that they can be proud of.

If you can not find skeletal leaves in your area, have your children pick up different colors of leaves from several different trees. Have them sit down and choose their favorites and then glue them to squares of craft paper. Let the leaves dry completely before framing and then hang in your living room where friends and family can ooh and awe over your' child's' artistic ability.

You can also take the more sturdy colorful leaves and coat both sides with three to four layers of craft glue. Then use a hole punch to put a hole in the end of each leaf. Mix it up and put a hole on the stem end of one leave while putting the hole on the opposite end of another leaf. Tie lengths of ribbon or string through the holes and then tie the opposite end of the ribbon to anything from a set of sticks to a piece of painted round cardboard with holes punched in it to create a mobile. Hang your mobile anywhere you like. Indoors or outdoors. You can make them as small or as large as you wish while spending some quality time with your children.