How To: Preserve Maple Leaves

'Tis the season to get crafty with maple leaves. Rather than buying fake maple leaves from the craft store, save real-life maple leaves you find on the ground outdoors using one of the following preservation techniques below.

You can preserve maple leaves by fusing them between two sheets of wax paper with an iron, soak the maple leaves in a solution of liquid glycerin and water, or simply microwave the maple leaves and spray them with hairspray afterwards.

You can also put your thick, run-down encyclopedia to good use by pressing maple leaves between the pages.

Make sure you use fresh, pliable maple leaves, though, as old, crumbly maple leaves won't work for these preservation techniques.

After you have finished with the preservation process, you can use these maple leaves to decorate your scrapbook, decorate around the home, and make long-lasting maple leaf rose bouquets.

Click on image to enlarge.