How to make a dipped wax leaf garland

Looking for an incredible nature walk activity to do with your kids? This is one way to turn an otherwise long nature walk into a walking meditation.

First things first, you'll want to gather your leaves. So bundle up all my community members of the northlands! It's going to be colder than it has been for the last few months and your body, your children, and your local weather station aren't going to let you go this alone. One way to keep all of those ideas of colder weather, colder feet, and colder cheeks at bay is to have any task on your nature walk.

Supplies -Lots of leaves

-Melted Beeswax

-Twine

-Patience, deep breath

Once you get home. you'll want to heat up your beeswax. I bought a small croc pot used for making dips from a thrift sore 2 years ago. It has served me well being the dedicated beeswax warmer, and I can just throw in old candle bits as we use them which makes this super convenient. The reason it is tinted green is because I like pine scented beeswax candles.

You'll have to wait for the wax to melt, then it is pretty simple to keep going from there. Just gently dip the leaf into the wax, creating a layer around the autumn colors to preserve them. I find children really love watching the leaf in the few seconds it takes for the leaf to dry.

Once you get home, warm up your beeswax.

It really brings out the natural colors but also adds to the autumn atmosphere in your home. I love doing this activity a week or two before Halloween. We are often talking about the autumn equinox around this time, what that means, and this craft really helps to tie it all together.

Once your leaves are all gathered and dipped, you'll want to arrange them by color. Also, you need your fiber twine of any kind for this craft. When they're arranged in color, my son often starts to notice the muted rainbow that surrounds us in the woods, even in high summer when everything seems green we often find that it is not only one color.

Arrange your leaves how you'll want them on your garland.

After your leaves are arranged how you'll want them displayed on your garland, make a loop on one end of your twine, this will serve as the knot where you hang it. I like to use hemp twine for this craft because the brown seamlessly blends in with the leaves and I really like the rustic look of it. However, because the fiber is so rough, I make a loose knot in the fiber first before I add a leaf. This way the fibers are still quite tough but I'm using that to gently yet securely hold the leaf. If you are using hemp, jute, coconut, or any other such rough twine, make your knots beforehand so you can be gentle on these leaves you worked so hard on. The stems can be quite brittle, so any extra precautions save you lots of time in the long run.

Make a knot in your twine BEFORE you add the leaf stem to prevent it from breaking.

Place the leaf stem in the loose knot hole you created

Gently pull the knot so it is secure around the stem but does not break the stem off the leaf, which would render it unusable for this craft.

Finally, you'll want to do this like 60 more times. Then you will have a completed leaf garland, your very own masterpiece of leafy goodness for the sun to shine through each morning. It's awesome for me to have something of beauty to look on in the morning, especially when those mornings are filled with chaos or high emotions from the kids. It solidifies that what we are doing is indeed worth the time. Art gives meaning to those moments when it all seems too much or too little. Art is what sustains the unspoken parts of life or gives sight to the parts of us often unseen. I hope you enjoy this craft, and you enjoy making it as much as I did! Please email or drop a question in the DM's if you have any questions!