I found some beautiful pink and red and even white leaves the other day on the sidewalk from a neighbor's pretty red- leaved fall bushes. I think in the shadier spots the leaves go pink to even creamy white. I grabbed an empty cup from my van that previously held paper trash and used it to gather as many as I could, then brought them home and found a big book to press them in. I hope to be able to put them on some cardstock, maybe some craft paper, and make names with them, then find an inexpensive frame to put them in.
Recently I printed some names off of my computer for a small group of girls and had them glue some old fall hued lilac bush leaves I'd pressed last year, around their names, then we used contact paper to cover them. The paper was brown and their names in dark brown, almost black, and all of the leaves were deep purply browns and golden yellows. I think they turned out nice book marks.
So before the leaves all leave, try to find some to press and maybe you can make some Christmas presents with them for your besties or your favorite Aunt (like Suzanne). Maybe even your family's last name with leaves surrounding it in a frame would make a nice addition to your Thanksgiving decorations.
I will have to take some pictures when I get going on my craft and show you how they turn out. They need to dry first. They were pretty papery, but still soft, when they had fallen, so it might not take long. And with all of the beautiful leaves this year, I have a lot to play with. I have many from my maple trees in my front yard as well. Right now I am afraid to look out the window and see the state of my lawn because after raking all of them in a great big pile yesterday with my kids (then playing in them :) the wind was fierce last night! The good new is though, I have a great tip for the leaf clean up we discovered yesterday that my 10 yr. old daughter thought was great, as it is her job to rake and bag the leaves : Instead of using a rake, use a push broom and push it across your lawn for a quick pile. You might have to get the strays with a rake, but it saves your back a lot of ache not twisting, and it is so much faster. Our front yard was almost completey covered from our 3 big maples, but we had it piled up in no time.
If any of you make something with your leaves you'd like to share, or have another idea to make something with them, please share them with us!
Here's a Christmas card challenge:
