Making bouquets of maple leaves with your own hands

Maple leaves can be used to make flowers and assemble them into a beautiful autumn bouquet. You should know how to prepare the material and create a craft.

Ideally, the leaves should be collected in the forest. City dwellers go to the park for future material. It is advisable to go to its distant places: there the foliage will be cleaner and more fragrant. Those trees that grow by the road absorb exhaust gases. Autumn bouquets are often made by children for exhibitions, and the more environmentally friendly the creativity, the better.

If possible, the leaves should be plucked, and not picked up from the ground, since they are still alive on the tree. They still have internal moisture, they are dense, have a glossy sheen. The fallen leaf is already devoid of the described properties.

Green, red and yellow leaves are usually suitable for crafts. If you're lucky enough to find examples of mixed colors, so much the better. They will give the future flower charm and naturalness.

If the collected material is not processed with anything, the maximum viability of the craft is 2-3 weeks. It will be a pity to part with man-made beauty after such, in general, a short time.

If the material is prepared in a special way, the bouquet will last much longer.

• Smooth, whole leaves without holes should be lightly wiped with a damp sponge to remove dust.
• Dissolve 0.6 L of water and 0.3 L of glycerin in a bowl. Put the mixture on fire, bring to a boil, cool to room temperature.
• Stir everything well, pour into a deep plastic container.
• Immerse the peeled leaves in the solution with the stems down 7–8 cm, seal tightly with a lid.
• The container is removed in a dark, rather cool place, where ultraviolet light does not fall. In order for the leaves to be fully processed, they need to be kept in this place for about 10 days to 2 weeks. It should be borne in mind that the more "fleshy" the leaf, the longer it needs to be impregnated.

It is possible to understand that the glycerin impregnation was successful by the dew drops appearing on a wide surface. After glycerin lamination, the leaves become more flexible and soft, acquire increased elasticity, and are much easier to work with. The appearance will only benefit, and the durability of such a bouquet increases up to several months.

Leaves that have been stored in glycerin, of course, need to be dried. Their surface can be wiped with a flannel or other delicate cloth, and left to dry for a couple of days.

If the craft is needed soon, and there is no time for glycerin baths, you need to wash the leaves and let them dry a little. Sprinkle the finished bouquet with hairspray. Or you can do this: take a brush with a long bristle, cover the leaves with sunflower oil. In about a day or two, it will be absorbed. Obviously, the second method is time consuming. But it is good, and, what is important, the surface will not be greasy.

The following master class will help to make roses from maple leaves. To make 3 maple roses, you need to take at least 50 yellow-green specimens of different sizes, as well as a few twigs of thuja and a thread.

Do-it-yourself roses from maple leaves are made step by step.

• Clean leaves must first be ironed with an iron. This can only be done through a fabric folded in half.

• The heart of the rose is formed from the first leaf (it should not be the largest). The front side of the sheet is folded in half - the reverse part of it should be inside.

• An acute angle is tucked into the middle, tightly rolled into a tight core.

• The second sheet is also folded in half, the sharp edges are removed inward, the core is wrapped around it.

• Each next taken sheet must be placed below the previous one. This continues until the product resembles a real bud.

• When the bud is formed, it's time to take the threads and fasten the flower. The thread should be tightened tighter, making sure that the inner petals and core do not fall out.

• Other flowers are curled in the same way. From those sheets that remain, you need to collect the cuff.

• Several branches of thuja will be able to complement the autumn bouquet: they are perfect in color.

• The lower cuttings are well rewound with a thread. If possible, you can wrap the cuttings with rigid tape in several layers. This will create the illusion of a solid stem, it will be more convenient to hold such a bouquet.

There is another option for composing roses from leaves, but the order of folding the elements will be slightly different. You will need:

• 10 maple leaves of different sizes and colors;
• twigs (for stems);
• scissors;
• green tape.

A bouquet of maple leaves is made in stages.

• The smallest leaf must be turned with the inside towards you. Bend the tops of it, roll it up. You will get a floral center.
• On the second sheet, the middle tip is also bent and applied to the bud. Then fold the edges of the leaf and wrap it around the bud.
• One by one, all the leaves are attached to the core. They must be overlapped in order of increasing size.
• The finished bud is fixed with a thread. You need to attach a twig to it, wrap it from the base of the flower along the entire length with tape.
• The flowers made are combined into a bouquet.

Further, the bouquet can be decorated, made brighter and more interesting. Rowan clusters look great next to maple roses. V jute rope will look good as a strapping.

Bouquets-mixes are interesting, that is, such designs in which flowers from maple leaves are combined with flowers from other materials. For example, roses can be formed from orange peels. The bouquet will turn out to be bright, and even fragrant.

There are other helpful tips from art masters as well.

• Maple leaf buds can also be fixed to branches using hot glue. The fixation points can be decorated in any convenient way. Flowers that have twigs instead of stems will be more durable. They are easy to put in a vase, the bouquet of them will not fall apart.
• If you spray the finished bouquet with glitter varnish, it will look especially beautiful in the evening light. Only the sparkles should not be silvery, but golden.
• To make the bouquet more fragrant, cloves, cinnamon sticks can also be included in its composition. Dried citrus fruits will diversify the craft, they can be planted on wooden skewers.
• If the bouquet itself is bright, then the equally bright packaging will be overkill. There is more than enough craft paper for wrapping a bouquet.
• Maple leaf roses are an original bridal bouquet. And if the image of the bride is also in ethnic style, boho, it will be a very harmonious combination. The bouquet can be complemented with long satin ribbons of autumn colors, beautiful decorative braid.

A detailed master class on creating a bouquet of maple leaves can be found in the following video.