Leaf Press

Ships today if ordered by 4pm MST.

A Lifelong Hobby.  Our Leaf Press consists of a beautifully designed and crafted cherry and maple hand press and 50 sheets of blotting paper. The kit option includes five magnetic, acrylic display frames also.

The Press. Our leaf press is made of the finest American hardwoods available and is designed to last a lifetime. The sides are made of cherry; the dowel, screw and knob portions are made of maple. Plus, we use contrasting walnut plugs to hide our screws. It measures 8 1/2" tall and 9 3/4" wide and is finished with Danish oil. The press includes 50 sheets of 5" x 8" acid-free, absorbent blotting paper that may be used repeatedly.

The Frames. Five acrylic (plexiglass) 4" X 6" frames are included in the kit with basic gray "chipboard" inside. There is a piece of magnetic tape adhered on the back of the frames.  If you wish, you may substitute the chipboard with construction paper, mat board or card stock. Also, Tyler and Olivia include one of their favorite leaves in a frame.

A Little Background from Tyler. My 7-year old daughter, Olivia, and I caught the "leaf identifying bug" in the fall of 2012. While out on walks we would pick a couple leaves off a tree and place them in a book, then hopefully identify them at home with a few tree identification field guides that I've bought over the years. During that autumn, she and I collected hundreds of leaves and we stuffed them in my old woodworking catalogs. A few months later, while searching for an indoor activity, we simply glued the leaves onto cut-up construction paper and added some identification notes. We slid the mounted leaves in some 4" x 6" acrylic frames that we had around the house and stuck them on the fridge for display. She and I were very happy with our creations!

We resumed collecting leaves in the Spring of 2013 and I discovered that our collecting technique was flawed because the Spring leaves contain more moisture than the dry, Autumn leaves. Pressing the wet, Spring leaves between the pages of books was not allowing them to dry and flatten properly, plus the moisture was ruining the pages. We needed a designated leaf press.

 

Related blog posts by Tyler:

"How We Press Leaves and Flowers"

"Pressed Leaf Memory Game"

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