Monday, October 3, 2016

31 Days of Repurposing - Using Old Candles to Preserve Fall Leaves

 Megan had fun yesterday afternoon doing some "messing" in the kitchen. She waxed a bunch of Fall leaves to preserve them. She had been inspired by my sister Keren who had done that and then used them as decorations on packages for Ken's and Mara's birthdays (which were last week). They had looked really cute and Megan wanted to make some of her own waxed leaves. Here is the process....
 First: Collect leaves and dry them. You could press them in a book (which would help to insure that none crinkle up badly as a couple of Megan's did) or just set them out to dry.

Second (and this is where our repurposing comes in ): Get a tin can big enough to dip leaves into. Fill it with old candles/ wax that are white or other light colors.

Third: Put the tin can in a pan with some water in it. Put it on the stove top to heat until the wax is all melted. You could then use a little stick to pull out the old wicks and such or just let them sink to the bottom.
 Fourth: Once the wax is nice and melted then you can start dipping leaves.

Fifth: After dipping but them on some paper to dry.
 They are very pretty dipped and work well to add to your home decorating, to accent presents that you wrap, etc. Be creative.

On Saturday our family had fun going on a bike ride to enjoy the Fall colors. I thought it would be fun to share some of the pictures from our time.
 Poplars are pretty!
 I love Maple leaves!
 Aaron decided to try the dirt road next to the trail for a bit.
 Jonathan, Mara, Ken and Aaron on the trail.
 Here they come.
 I love Fall skies too!

Our family. With our Evan McMullin advertisements. We are supporting him for President and are trying to get his name out. Check him out! :-)

Ken and I with the McMullin logo - taken for a challenge on facebook.
I think the color was at it's peak sometime last week and the leaves are now starting to really fall. So quick! Get some waxed and saved before they are all dried up and brown. :-)

7 comments:

Amy and Mark said...

Wow! Your leaves are already so beautiful! We have had a bit of cooler weather here but our high tomorrow is 80 or so. I am guessing we still have a few more weeks before the leaves begin to change. Thank you for sharing your pictures - it will help tie me over until we get to our own fall colors here in Central Indiana.

Marilyn @ MountainTopSpice said...

What a lovely project and way to save leaves and repurpose candles! This is a wonderful project, and I could see many possibilities with it... I wonder if you could wax flowers too? You are such a resourceful person, and I always enjoy stopping by here to see what you are doing... and I loved the pictures of your family's bike ride together, such precious memories!

Brenda said...

I'm trying SO hard not to envy :). I love fall, but here in Florida, we have very little as far as pretty leaves go. What a great time for family bike rides! I am so blessed and encouraged by your blogs.

Brenda said...

I'm trying SO hard not to envy :). I love fall, but here in Florida, we have very little as far as pretty leaves go. What a great time for family bike rides! I am so blessed and encouraged by your blogs.

Cheryl said...

What a neat idea! This is so creative! Happy belated birthday to the ones who celebrated them, and may God bless you and all of your sweet family, Abbi!

Mrs. Chrissy T said...

Super project. We are studying trees and leaves right now. I may add this as a fun project. Thank you for sharing.

By the way what do you use for homeschooling?

Abbi said...

Thanks to all of you for stopping by and enjoying the work of the Master Artist with me!

Mrs. Chrissy,
We are rather Eclectic in our homeschooling and don't purchase a pre-planned curriculum. We do use Saxon math and tend to use a lot of "living" books - the Charlotte Mason style. I am hoping to write a post soon that tells about what books and other things we are doing for "school" this year.

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