Gold Dipped Fall Leaves

When leaves start turning orange, yellow and red - they are so beautiful and I always want to hang onto the gorgeous fall colors.  I decided I would use the preserved leaves at each place setting at Thanksgiving dinner, so with that end in mind, I became obsessed with finding the perfect leaves.

 

 

For this project you'll need:

leaves

waxed paper

iron

Mod Podge

foam brush

metallic gold spray paint

 

The first step in preservation is to iron the leaves between two sheets of waxed paper.

 

 

Wait a few minutes, then coat both sides with Mod Podge. 

 

Don't be nervous if they look like this - they will dry clear!

 

 

I collected the two leaves below at the same time and they looked about the same.  Nothing was done to preserve the leaf on the left, the leaf on the right was preserved with waxed paper and mod podge - amazing, right?!

 

 

Preserved leaves:

 

 

Gold dipped has been a trend this year (see below) and I chose that look for my family's Thanksgiving table.

 

 

I wanted to give the leaves a "gold dipped" look.  I used painter's tape and metallic gold spray paint to achieve the look.  After experimenting, I don't think the painter's tape is necessary.  Although well preserved, the leaves are still fragile and the tape needs to be pressed tight to really work.  I ended up just using a piece of copy paper, then spraying the uncovered part of the leaf.

 

 

My end result:

 

 

Have you done a DIY project following the gold dipped trend?  If so, I'd love to see it!