How To Preserve Leaves: The Two Most Effective Ways

A Brief Tutorial on How to Preserve Leaves – Preserve Leaves’ Color & Shape

Guess what! It’s fall! And along with fall comes a huge number of fallen leaves. Leaves of many varieties of colors, sizes, shapes. They are golden, red, orange, purple, brown. These leaves are dropped from grand and gorgeous trees like the elm, oak, aspen, maple, and willow. The rainbow of leaves line our walkways, curbs, roads yards and parks. They also drop onto our cars, window ledges, and into our gutters. Although it is not the only thing that signifies the arrival of Autumn, this colorful array of fallen leaves is a very clear sign that Autumn is here. And let’s be real-anyone who appreciates natural beauty can appreciate Autumn for its natural beauty. That is why I love preserving leaves and have put together this tutorial on how to preserve leaves.

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I love Fall for many reasons. However, since my son started walking, Fall has been particularly exciting simply because of the wonder and amazement of his gleaming eyes when he’s outside. The leaves catch his attention during this time of year more than any other season. He picks them up, stares at them, excitedly brings them over to show me his collection, tosses them up into the air, runs through them, kicks them, rolls around in them, and then…

…The dreaded, “Mom, I want to take them home. Can I? Can I? Please?”

So I say yes. Every year, without fail. I. Say. Yes.

Every year we end up with a pile of gorgeous, colorful leaves. I call it our leaf loot. And every year, we have an array of leaf crafts and activities we choose from that allow us to further enjoy and have fun with our leaf loot. You can read about some of leaf loot activities on the blog Seven New and Simple Leaf Activities for Preschoolers.

Some of those leaf loot crafts and activities do require the leaves to be preserved. And that is what this blog is about. so let’s get down to business.

Though there are several ways to preserve your leaves’ color and texture, I have outlined two methods below that work best for the Seasonal Leaf Garland activity outlined in the blog Seven New and simple Leaf Activities for Preschoolers. They are Pressing Leaves and putting the leaves in a Glycerin Bath.

Below I have outlined exactly how to do each of these methods for preserving your leaves.

Pressed Leaves

Here’s How by Pressing the Leaves

Pressing the leaves works very well if your project requires flat leaves. The leaves will retain their color for awhile. Particularly the green, yellow and golden leaves. The leaves also remain flexible and bendable. However, the leaves will eventually lose their color and dry out.

1. Make sure your leaves are totally dry (as in not damp or wettened with rain, dew, etc.).
2. Place your leaves in between two sheets of newspaper. If you don’t have newspaper, you can use parchment paper.
3. Lay the sandwiched leaves out on a hard surface and pile some heavy books over them.
4. Wait about 3 days or so.

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Glycerin Bath

What is glycerin? It is a sugar alcohol that helps prevents things from drying out and becoming hard and brittle. Glycerin is commonly used in makeup, toothpastes, and foods. It can also help preserve leaves in their color and texture for a long time. This happens because the leaves absorb the sugar alcohol through the stems in the same way they absorb water and carbon dioxide through the stems. When the leaves stop producing their own sugar through the energy they absorb from chlorophyll, the glycerin becomes a substitute.

Glycerin can be found in the baking section of your local grocery store. I have also found it in the pharmacy section too, near the diuretics and first aid aisles.

Here’s How Using the Glycerin Bath

1. In a medium bowl, thoroughly mix 1 part glycerin with 2 parts water. Note that you will need enough of this mixture to fully submerged your leaves.
2. Fresh cut the stems of your leaves. This step is important because the leaves will absorb the Glycerin through their stems.
3. Place your leaves in the bowl, fully submerging them in the glycerin mixture. Take special care to make sure the stems especially are fully submerged.
4. Now, place a heavy plate and/or bowl over the leaves. This is to ensure the leaves remain fully submerged in the glycerin solution.
5. Wait several days (somewhere between 4-6 days). Check on your leaves daily. Take note of the any red and purple leaves you have. Your red and purple leaves will fade a little, but if they begin to lose a lot of color or start turning brown or black, take them out. Note that red and purple leaves are more difficult to preserve. However, it can be done. They may not need as much time in the glycerin bath as the green, gold, yellow and orange leaves, however.
6. Once you have waited and are satisfied with the colors of your leaves, remove them from the glycerin bath and dry them with a paper towel.

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That sums it up! These are the two best and most effective ways, in my opinion, for successfully preserving leaves.

Now that you have your leaves, don’t forget to check out my blog, Seven New and Simple Leaf Activities for Preschoolers. Have fun crafting with your leaves!

How To Preserve Leaves: The Two Most Effective Ways