This weekend was supposed to be a spring cleaning weekend for Kitty. Her wardrobe has become cluttered with favorite clothes that have, alas, either become too small or too holey! Sadly, she is very averse to patches… apparently, they itch! So, it was with a heavy heart that we set about cleaning out her draws with the goal of leaving them neatly filled with her clothes that still fit and don’t make her look like Oliver Twist.
It was after tidying the very first drawer that she discovered her flower press, well-hidden in her sweater drawer. She immediately remembered putting it there a many months ago. We had pressed Autumn leaves and she was having a very hard time waiting for them to dry. I suggested she put her press in a safe place that was out of sight. I suggested that if she couldn’t see the press, perhaps she’d have an easier wait. As it turns out, her sweater drawer was the ‘out-of-sight’ place.
So, yesterday, with utter delight, she uncovered our beautifully pressed Autumn leaves.
“Oh, MOM!” she exclaimed happily… “Let’s make something exquisite with them!”
Her excitement at discovering a long forgotten treasure was so palpable that I just couldn’t bring myself to be the “NO, clean your room!” Ogre.
I put the beeswax on the bain-marie and we set out all we needed to make an autumn leaf sun catcher.
All we needed to make our suncatcher was our pressed leaves, melted beeswax and a tuperware lid that has a nice level base and enough of a lip.
When the beeswax has melted (here is a tutorial on how to melt wax safely), pour a thin layer into the tupperware lid. When the top layer has started to cool, let your child carefully (the wax under the cooled top layer will probably still be hot) arrange the leaves upon the beeswax.
Pour a second layer of melted beeswax over the leaves.
When it has cooled a little (after about 5 minutes) use a sharp object (we used a wooden skewer) to make a hole in the warm wax. This will be how you hang your suncatcher.
When the wax has cooled properly, carefully extract it from the plastic lid (it should pop right out). Hang it in the window with a piece of string or ribbon and enjoy the pure beauty.
It is soooooooo beautiful, especially on a rainy day just when the sun comes out again… it glows golden and little hands just can’t keep themselves from touching it :-)
Needless to say, Kitty’s room remains un-Spring cleaned :-)
Blessings and magic,
Donni
19 Responses
that is awesome love it!!! have to get some bee’s wax now for sure!!!
So pretty- I love the yellow glow and I am sure the smell is divine- I have a feeling that in our desert heat the wax would melt quickly-
These turned out so beautiful! S.
How beautiful!
How pretty! I bet it smells wonderful too, when the sun warms it up.
that’s amazing! a wonderful idea & I imagine the smell is delightful as it warms as well!
What a beautiful way to remember your captured piece of autumn. Very lovely and thanks for sharing it with us.
A great idea — and good for you for not being the clean-your-room ogre. I’m afraid that’s going to be me some day. I’m still learning how to be flexible and let things go!
http://www.creatingafamilyhome.com/2011/04/few-things-you-may-not-know-about-me.html
Kelly @ Creating a Family Home
What a lovely idea. I have a pound of beeswax from a bee keeper at church I’ve been itching to use in a project. This is perfect.
So beautiful! I imagine that the thinner you pour the wax, the better.
Who needs spring cleaning when you can enjoy doing a wonderful project together? It’s beautiful!
We are looking forward to pressing flowers for the first time this year!
This is a wonderful opinion. The things mentioned are unanimous and needs to be appreciated by everyone…!
Bain Maries
Thank you for sharing such a beautiful pastime for children and adults alike. I just love the smell of beeswax.
How long does it take to set? I love this!
Hi Cindy,
It takes about 2 hours.
such a lovely idea! do the leaves need to be completely dried and pressed?
Hi Natasha,
No, they don’t… the beeswax preserves the leaves.
Blessings and magic,
Donni
Oh my! I have never seen them done this way :D I am convinced that if I do leaves like this once (& they turn out as beauifully as yours) that i will not be able to do them another way again… Gorgeous…