Falling Leaves

An old classic reborn here for the purpose of sending Fall around the world. One of my brothers is an F-16 pilot just recently stationed in South Korea and I wanted to give him a reminder of home. Another brother is in boot camp and I plan on tucking one leaf into a letter - hoping he won't get extra push-ups!

So, out comes the old classroom leaf project. Instead of wax paper, crayon shavings and a hot iron, these beauties are forever encased in sturdy, sticky contact paper.

Here are the details...

Collect leaves that are not yet quite dry and press for a day under a heavy book:

Roll out contact paper and place something on edge to hold it down. Cut to desired width, no more than 12" wide makes it easier to work with:

Peel contact paper backing half way back and hold down backing out of the way:

Arrange leaves on sticky side of contact paper being sure to leave enough space between leaves and around edges to create a good seal:

Fold contact paper over:

Smooth contact paper from center out towards edges:

Trim around leaves:

Add magnets to the back with strong adhesive (I used a promotional magnet that arrived attached to the latest phone book and applied with scrapbooking photo tape):

Clear and scrub fridge and display (until my package is ready):

Bonus: you have a clean fridge! Enjoy! I'm going to send some to my Oma in Arizona too - just with no salamander stuck in the box of leaves this time...