to Incredible-Looking Leaf Crafts THE SECRET
It’s fall, and your Pinterest boards are full of fall crafts. You find yourself daydreaming about candles glowing in leaf-adorned jars, leafy wreaths on the front door, and a garland of leaves lending a touch of whimsy to the dining room. Colorful fall leaves are the secret to a home that’s perfectly decorated for the season, but how do experienced crafters find leaves that last? If you just grab a handful from your backyard, in a few weeks, your painstaking project has dried up and you’re stuck vacuuming leaf bits out of your carpet. It’s time to step up your crafting game and learn the trick to preserving leaves for years to come. Before you go out hunting for the perfect leaves, grab a few newspapers. After you’ve gathered up all your favorite leaves, place them in a single layer on a newspaper page. When choosing your leaves, make sure they are still fresh and flat. Leaves that are already dried or curling cannot be preserved well enough to use as decorations. If your leaves are damp, gently dry them off before
putting them on the newspaper. Make sure none of the leaves touch each other. Set a few more pages of newspaper on top and add enough weight to keep them flat. Heavy books are ideal for this. Move the newspaper somewhere it can sit undisturbed and leave your leaves alone for at least two weeks. Just letting your leaves dry flat isn’t enough for decorations that last. The true secret to leaf preservation is an all-in-one glue, sealer, and finish such as Mod Podge. This is a popular tool for decoupage projects, and it belongs in every craft closet. Once your leaves are dry, gently coat one side of each leaf in a layer of Mod Podge. Place your leaves on a sheet of wax paper and wait for them to dry. This should take less than an hour. When the Mod Podge is dry, turn the leaves over and coat the other side. Repeat with a second coat on each side. Mod Podge brings the bright colors back to your leaves and makes them more flexible. They’ll look like they just fell off the tree! These leaves will last for years, and you are free to craft to your heart’s content.
14TH ANNUAL HOT CHOCOLATE RUN A 5K Run and 3K Walk to Promote Freedom From Violence in Hampshire County
When: Sunday, Dec. 3, 2017 Website: hotchocolaterun.com
We want to invite you to join us this year at the annual Hot Chocolate Run to benefit Safe Passage. Safe Passage is dedicated to creating a world free of domestic violence and relationship abuse. Since 1977, Safe Passage has supported survivors of domestic violence through a range of programs and services, including a shelter, counseling and legal services, and a crisis hotline. Services are available to anyone who has experienced domestic violence, regardless of age, gender identity, or sexual orientation.
We at Yankee Home Improvement are proud to be helping Safe Passage as our featured nonprofit!
Your donations and ours help give survivors what they need to stay safe, heal from violence, and gain hope for a brighter future. Safe Passage’s counselors ask, “How can we help?” instead of saying, “Here’s what we can offer you.” It’s an important difference. Survivors come to Safe Passage with a range of experiences, resources, and challenges, and what works for one person may not be helpful for another.
This individualized, flexible response is made possible by generous community support. To learn more about Safe Passage, visit safepass.org.
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