Pressed Leaves and Branches Bouquet

Here’s a way to bring some of Autumn’s beauty indoors, with a natural bouquet made of pressed leaves and branches.

When I gathered these brilliant maroon coloured maple leaves I really wasn’t certain what I was going to do with them, but the scattering of them on my path was just too pretty to pass up. I wasn’t alone, because, as I selected the perfect specimens, I was joined by another woman who also wanted some.

At this point I should say that in the past I have tried taking a fresh tree branch that still had leaves on it and making a display by simply plunking it in a vase of water. It didn’t take long for those leaves to curl right up in an unattractive manner and cause me to deem that idea a ‘fail’.  So, I knew that a lifelike display would require doing something more than that.  Here’s what I came up with.

How to make a bouquet of branches with real leaves :

Find some pretty leaves.

Press and dry the leaves by placing them between the pages of a magazine that you no longer want. Note that pressing plants will cause damage to the pages they are pressed between, so if you want to save a leaf or flower within the pages of a treasured book, press it in an unwanted magazine first, until it is perfectly dry. Oh yes, and leaves must still be moist and pliable when they are put between pages for pressing. If they have already begun to dry and curl they will crack when put between the pages.

Place the magazine with the leaves on a flat surface and put a pile of heavy books on top.

After a few days they should dry enough to use.

Find yourself a few branches, trying to match the kind of leaf you have, to make the display look more realistic. Branches from a maple tree were what I needed and the local park was full of ones that had fallen to the ground. Trim the bottom end to the length you want. Arrange the branches in a heavy vase.

Then just attach your pressed leaves to the branches.  I did that by wrapping a short length of black electrical tape around both the stem and the branch. Gluing the leaves on would also work.

And there you have it … something one-of-a-kind that will allow you to bring a bit of nature inside.

How about a little mood lighting?

Thanks for taking a look. Hope you’re having a great Friday.
xo loulou