How to preserve leaves

If you have ever experienced New Hampshire's fall foliage season, you have most likely lost control of your self and started collecting leaves at one point or another. If you employ some of the following preserving techniques, you can hold on to your prized collection of leaves until well after the trees are bare and ground frozen.

• Take your leaf and place it between two pieces of wax paper. Cover with an old towel, cloth or piece of paper and use an iron, set to warm, to seal the two pieces of wax paper together. Avoid scorching the leaf by keeping the iron moving at all times. Allow it to cool at first and then trim around your leaf. Be sure to leave a narrow margin around the leaf so the paper stays sealed.
• Make a solution of glycerin and water. Use twice as much water as you do glycerin. Pour into a flat pan and completely cover your leaves with the water and glycerin solution. If your leaves float, you will have to weight them down. Let them set for up to six days. The leaves slowly absorb the solution, which makes them soft and flexible for many years.
• Dry leaves in the microwave by laying them between two paper towels. If it is possible, you'll want to set your microwave's power setting to medium or low. Now run the microwave for between 30 and 100 seconds, depending on the dryness of the leaves. You'll want to keep a close eye on them to prevent over heating.
• The most common way is first to find a big book. Doing this may ruin the pages, so you'll want to use an old book that is of little value to you. If your leaves are wet to the touch, place them in a sunny window until they are dry. Putting wet leaves increases the odds of just getting green fuzzy leaves. Place the dry leaves in the book with a paper towel or blotting paper in contact with the front and back or the leaf. You can place many leaves in a book, so long as there is about 15 to 20 pages in between each set of leaves. If you put more than one leaf to a page, take care not to overlap them. Keep the leaves in the book for about 7 days, longer for larger or moister leaves. You may want to replace the paper towels on the second or third day.