How to Make Easy Wax Covered Leaves

by Sarah - Craft Invaders

I think everyone would agree that Autumn is a beautiful season. The changing colours of leaves before they fall is a wonderful sight, but due to the nature of the process the leaves are undergoing, it is difficult to preserve them in all their glory. One method is to press autumn leaves, today we are exploring another really simple one – preserving them in wax.

Capture the beauty of fall leaves by preserving their beautiful, autumn colours using wax - check out our super easy tutorial

This really is a fun and simple way to preserve leaves. As well as collecting your leaves you will need some wax, a container to melt it in, and somewhere to hang your leaves to allow them to dry.

Capture the beauty of fall leaves by preserving their beautiful, autumn colours using wax - check out our super easy tutorial

We melted our wax in a double boiler, you could also do this in a bowl over simmering water. Please ensure you do this safely, bearing in mind that wax ignites easily! It is important to note that it is not safe to melt wax in a microwave or leave melting wax unattended.

Capture the beauty of fall leaves by preserving their beautiful, autumn colours using wax - check out our super easy tutorial

We found dipping our leaves quickly into the hot wax avoided them wilting, and allowed us to capture their beauty at that particular moment in time. The wax only takes a few minutes to set on the leaves, but during this time it will leave marks if they touch anything, so we devised a drying frame to leave ours to dry in safely.

Capture the beauty of fall leaves by preserving their beautiful, autumn colours using wax - check out our super easy tutorial

For more leaf craft inspiration check out our Decoupage with Autumn Leaves and our Unique Eco Prints.

Capture the beauty of fall leaves by preserving their beautiful, autumn colours using wax - check out our super easy tutorial

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17 comments

Anuruddika May 23, 2018 - 6:12 am

Hi ,
That was amazing.
Never seen befor . I’m going to trying today also can you tell me which bleach name can use for pine cones please, that would be great help for me.
Thanks
Anu

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Sarah - Craft Invaders May 23, 2018 - 8:07 am

Hi Anu. I used Domestos Original bleach for the pine cones – any household bleach will work :)

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ANNA MARIA December 26, 2017 - 8:42 pm

Can we paint them afterwards with nail polish,

lets say?

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Sarah - Craft Invaders December 26, 2017 - 9:32 pm

Oh, what an interesting idea. I’d try painting the nail polish straight on to the leaf Anna without dipping them in wax 1st. I don’t think the polish would stick any better to the wax. Do come back and let me know how it works if you try it :)

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Lucy October 1, 2017 - 8:45 am

Sorry if this is a dumb question but what kind of wax are you using? Thanks, Lucy

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Sarah - Craft Invaders October 6, 2017 - 9:44 am

Not dumb at all Lucy. We used just a basic paraffin wax pellet as that’s what we had. I’m not sure if any one type would work better than another.

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Monday Makes – Autumn wreath ideas – Hartburn Village Women's Institute September 11, 2017 - 9:18 am

[…] How To Preserve Leaves In Wax – if you’d like a natural approach to your wreath, why not use real leaves preserved in wax for longevity? […]

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Mary-the boondocks blog October 18, 2016 - 8:58 pm

Sarah they look so pretty and shiny and who wouldn’t want to preserve fall’s glorious colors.

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Sarah - Craft Invaders October 23, 2016 - 11:10 am

Thank you Mary – it’s such a beautiful time of year :)

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Nikki Frank-Hamilton October 16, 2016 - 7:32 pm

You have so much fun with your kids! I love it. This is a really cool way to save the gorgeous colors of fall. Could you attach them to a wreath or use them in a table-scape? We all run to the craft store to buy fake leaves, but we could be doing this instead! And the real leaves are so much prettier. Thanks for the tip, going to be trying this!

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Sarah - Craft Invaders October 23, 2016 - 11:05 am

Haven’t decided how to use them yet Nikki, but think they will probably end up attached to a wreath – I have too many ideas running around my mind lol!

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Linda at Mixed Kreations October 14, 2016 - 10:06 pm

What a great idea! Love the idea of preserving the different colors of the leaves to use year round. They will make beautiful props!

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Sarah - Craft Invaders October 23, 2016 - 11:02 am

Thanks Linda, it is such a beautiful time of year so it’s lovely to capture a little piece of it :)

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Sarah Eliza @ devastateboredom October 13, 2016 - 4:04 pm

Gorgeous, and it looks easy too! I’m really excited about this, I’ve never seen it done before…!

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Sarah - Craft Invaders October 23, 2016 - 11:00 am

It is super easy Sarah Eliza – the kids loved this activity :)

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Michelle October 12, 2016 - 5:14 pm

That’s gorgeous and you get to save those beautiful colors all year around. Thank you so much Sarah

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Sarah - Craft Invaders October 13, 2016 - 12:11 pm

It’s such an easy thing to do Michelle, my wax leaves are going to make great props for my autumn crafts :)

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