How to Preserve Fall Leaves and Hang Them

We are always looking for ways to bring nature into our home, and what better way to do that in the fall than with beautiful leaves?! I'm going to show you how I preserved them and hung them in a way that makes them look like they are falling and gently sway in any breeze.

(I adapted this craft from here.)

1. Choose your leaves

You can plan a color scheme or tree type that you want and then go scouting, or simply go for a walk and find whatever leaves speak to you! I tried to find leaves that were fully intact and had minimal brown spots.

2. Flatten your leaves (optional)

Place them inside a heavy book, close it and place something heavy on top. Let it sit for a few hours. This is totally optional. My leaves were very crumpled so I wanted to start off with a more flattened leaf and let the wax bend it in an organic way afterward.

3. Gently melt white beeswax

I got my beeswax pellets here. I used less than a 1/4 of the bag, so I have lots left over! You don't need much, just enough to dip the entire leaf in.

4. Hang them or lay them flat to dry

I chose to hang my with clothespins (place parchment paper underneath to catch the drips), but laying them flat works great, too. If you lay them flat the wax may pool thicker in some areas, and hanging them can form little droplets at the ends (which I pulled off gently when dry). So it's up to you and the look you're going for!

I let them dry for a whole day, but you probably only need a few hours.

5. Hang them with monofilament

I did one banner-type string from one side of my fireplace mantle to the other with leaves tied on, then hung separate strings downward with single leaves spaced evenly between the ones above. Hopefully you can see what I mean if you look closely! Purchase monofilament here.

I hope you enjoy doing this super simple but eye-catching craft!