Real Maple Leaf Basket

The leaves are falling down.  The leaves are falling down.

Red, Yellow, Green, and Brown.

The leaves are falling down.

It’s that time of year again.  The holidays are approaching. It’s getting colder, the leaves are changing color and falling from the trees.

To help bring a little of the autumn softness into our home, I put together this maple leaf basket.

I had seen this on Pinterest, but all of them said to use fake leaves.  I didn’t want that.  I have beautiful maple trees on my property that are beautiful when the sun shines through their leaves.  That’s what I wanted for my home. 

It took a little extra finagling because nature made leaves have a mind of their own, but eventually it came out looking beautiful.  Here’s how I did it.

What you need:

Maple leaves (Pulled from the tree before they fall, if possible. An assortment of colors.)
A Balloon
A Bowl
Mod Podge
Foam Brush
Plastic Wrap

To prepare the leaves… Cut off the stem as close to the leaf as possible.

Next, Blow up the balloon so that the bottom is the size of the basket you want, and tie it off.  Place it, knot side down, in your bowl to keep it in place.

Brush a layer of Mod Podge over the balloon, as big as the size of your basket.

Once the glue becomes somewhat tacky, start layering the leaves over the balloon.

**Unlike fake leaves, real maple leaves are colorful on one side and dull on the other. 

Make sure that when you first start putting leaves on the balloon that they are colored side down.  That way the inside of your basket will be just as colorful as the outside.**

Place a leaf on the balloon, flattening it to the best of your abilities.  There is no way to make natural leaves completely flat.  There will be air bubbles and creases that you have to work around.

 

Brush a layer of Mod Podge over the top.

 

Do this repeatedly with every leaf. 

 

When the inside layer of your basket is done, flip the leaves over so the bright side is up, and place them over the inside layer. Keep going up as far as you want your basket to go.

**The higher up on the basket I went, I found it easier to brush the bottom of the leaf with Mod Podge before sticking it on, instead of covering every leaf once it was on.  This helped to make it not as slippery by limiting the glue.**

Now, because these were real leaves, some corners aren’t going to stay down as much as you want them to.  Once all the leaves are down, go through and brush some glue on the bottom of the edges that aren’t sticking.  Next, cover the balloon in plastic wrap to hold all of them down, and let it sit for close to an hour. 

Slowly peel away the plastic wrap and all the leaves should be flattened to the balloon.

   

Next, gently brush a layer of Mod Podge over the top of the whole thing.

Let dry overnight.

The next day, your leaves should be hardened onto the bottom of your balloon.  Take a sharp object and poke a small hole close to the tie on the balloon.  Slowly let out the air.

 

**If it looks as if the balloon isn’t pulling away from the leaves, you’ll have to gently help it along by peeling it away.**

**At this point, I did not have high hopes for this basket.  The dried glue came off with the leaves and some glue was still wet on the inside. It looked like a hot mess.

However, the inside dried, and I cut off the excess glue with a pair of scissors.  Once I was done, the basket looked lovely.**

Once your basket is done, you can put whatever you like inside of it, and it’s great to have to bring a little bit of that autumn peacefulness inside your home.

On a side note… The basket came out good.  After time, it will become more brittle since the leaves are drying out, but it feels great having made something from trees in my own front yard.  The process took longer than I thought, is REALLY messy, and I’ll probably never do it again, but it was a new experience that I wouldn’t change.

Happy Fall Y’all!!

**My mom made the recommendation to put it outside when I was through with it, and it would more than likely become some bird’s home.  I just might do that, and I will give you an update on how it turns out.** 

Until next time…

Happy DIY-ing!!!