Natural decor from skeletonized leaves. Ideas and master class

13.06.2019

Leaf skeletonization is the process by which the veins and structure (skeleton) of the leaf are exposed. Now it's autumn and it's time to collect leaves and skeletonize them.

Before starting to write the tutorial, I searched the entire Internet in search of a 100% way to expose the structure of the leaves. For skeletonization, whole, undamaged leaves are taken.

Method one: Skeletonizing leaves with strong tea.

Thick, leathery leaves are selected for this method. I didn't take a picture of it, and it still didn't work...

1. Wash and dry the leaves.

2. In a bowl (saucepan) brew green tea. Put the leaves in a bowl. We hold 5 minutes. I kept it for half an hour (to be sure!)

3. Add baking soda to a bowl of tea at the rate of 1 part of soda to three parts of water. We put on fire for five minutes (I cooked for 20 minutes).

4. We take out the leaves, dry them with paper towels. Now we brew tea again and repeat step number 2. We take out the leaves one at a time, put them on the surface (I have - tile) and begin to clean the surface of the leaf from the ("meat") of the green mass. You can do this with an old toothbrush or a hard brush. We do this carefully, without damaging the sheet.

5. We wash the sheet, or rather what is left of it. Dry with napkins and put in a book.

I took dense leaves, but more or less it turned out only with sheflera leaves. But this is not the result I want. The leaf skeleton is not exposed.

Method two: Skeletonizing leaves with soda.

1. Pour water into a saucepan, bring to a boil and add soda, just as in the first case, 1 part soda to 3 parts water.

2. We lower the leaves into the pan, cook for about twenty minutes. Periodically add water as it boils.

3. Drain the water, wash the leaves. Fill the leaves with a new portion of water, add detergent to neutralize the action of soda.

4. We take out one leaflet at a time, put it on a hard surface, and begin to clean the sheet. First with a coarse brush, then with a hard brush. Be careful not to damage the leaves.

5. Rinse with water, dry with a napkin.

6. Now it is clear that the skeleton did not work out for me ...

7. Do not despair! We take a bowl that we do not use for food purposes. We pour some water. Put the peeled leaf in a bowl.

8. Take a bottle of "Whiteness" and generously pour it into a bowl. Leave for 15-20 minutes, be sure to cover with a newspaper or lid.

9. And that's what happens.

10. Looks like this. As before, the skeleton of the leaf was not completely exposed.

11. You can tint with food paint left over from Easter.

12. It turned out such a colored skeletonized sheet in the middle. On the sides, for comparison, unbleached leaves.

Leaf skeletonization. Method three.

Forget about the leaves until November-December, when the leaves on the street will skeletonize themselves, due to natural phenomena. Collect, rinse and bleach!

I'll probably do that.

P.S. Unused leaves, I left in a bowl and filled with fresh water. I hope in a month they will rot and skeletonize naturally.

I hope this lesson will help you and you will also try to master it at home. If you get something worthwhile - send us your method. We will try too!

Skeleton maple leaves

Skeletonized leaves are leaves that have only veins left. The soft tissues of the leaf (scientifically "epidermis") are removed different ways, and the so-called "skeleton" remains - an openwork mesh of veins.

Different types of venation

Skeleton leaves can be easily bought in a flower shop, in a florist shop, in a decor store... You can also order it in a shop. It's fast, simple, convenient. Another plus is that the store sells skeletons of trees that do not grow in our area. For example:

Leaves of religious ficus (ficus religiosa) or Bo tree (tree Bo), Bodhi, Banyan; pipal (Peepal or Pippal):

Ficus religious (Ficus religiosa)

Skeletonized Ficus Leaf ((Ficus religiosa)

Leaves of the rubber tree or Hevea brazilian (Hevea brasiliensis):

Rubber tree (Hevea)

rubber tree leaf

Magnolia leaves (Magnolia):

Magnolia (Magnolia virginiana L.)

Magnolia (Magnolia_acuminata)

Magnolia (Magnolia_acuminata) Mango leaves (Mangifera indica):

Mango (Mangifera L.)

However, buying leaves in the store is not always possible and not for everyone. Yes, and the choice is limited to only two or three types. It is much more interesting to make skeletons yourself!

There are many articles on the Internet on the topic of leaf skeletonization, but alas, all these articles are, in fact, just reprints of the same foreign master class. And not the best. Why not the best?

First, boiling leaves in washing soda is mentioned everywhere - not the most good option, since not everyone can find this powder in their city. I didn't find it either, although I've been looking for a long time.
Secondly, this soda copes with very few leaves. Some of our crafters use baking soda instead of washing soda, but it works even worse, if not to say that it does not work at all. Yes, some leaves are skeletized, but even just boiling in hot water without any additives - soft, loose leaves, such as maple, this is enough. It is generally ridiculous to talk about soaking in green tea - complete nonsense.
Thirdly, there are much more effective and affordable means.

So how do you actually effectively skeletonize leaves?

There are several ways:

Dry
Wet
Natural
Chemical

Dry way

The dry method is good when you urgently need one or two skeletonized leaves. You are tormented to do more, since it takes about 15-20 minutes of vigorous action per sheet.

The method seems to be simple - take a brush and beat a leaf with it. But! Having bought a special brush with a comfortable handle and after working for about ten minutes with this brush over a leaf, I was very upset - nothing worked out for me! And all because the bristles on the brush were made of synthetics, and besides, not hard enough.

So remember - the brush should only be made of natural bristles, the pile is not too long. Please note - the stiffer the bristles, the better! You can buy such a brush in the market or in a hardware store, they are usually designed for cleaning clothes or shoes. By the way, you can attach a long handle yourself.

We take very fresh leaves, without spots and holes, lay them out on a newspaper and beat them with a brush. You will break the soft tissues of the leaf, leaving only the veins or the skeleton of the leaf! The method is ideal for maple leaves, sycamore, Benjamin's ficus, poplar, ivy, etc.

Skeletonized sycamore leaf

Press-dried leaves can also be used. In this case, you will get not a skeletonized leaf, but simply an openwork one - too interesting option. And here just the brush may not be very hard.

Leaf skeletonization

skeletal leaves

Natural skeletonization method

The leaves are wonderfully skeletonized natural way- that is, nature itself creates such leaves, you just need to notice and pick them up in time.

How does this happen? And here's how - the leaves get wet in the rain, under the snow, lie on the damp ground, they are trampled on with heels, so they turn into a net by themselves. I usually collect such leaves when the snow melts. Also, the leaves can be "eaten" by some insects:

skeletal leaves

In order not to rely on nature and not to wait for a suitable leaf to come across, we arrange a natural skeletonization of the house. Pour plain water into a jar and put the leaves there. Close the lid, leave alone for about a month. As a rule, a month is enough, but sometimes even less time is needed. Then we take out the leaves and watch how the flesh of the leaf departs. If the sheet is softened enough, rinse it under running water with three fingers so that all the mucus comes off.

I experimented with Benjamin Dunetti's ficus leaf, which had been in the water for a month. After that, it exfoliated, and I simply removed the film from it, which covers the sheet on both sides. It turned out to be a very soft and delicate skeletonized leaf (although initially ficus leaves are very hard). The structure resembles that of a dragonfly's wing, doesn't it?

In principle, the lanterns themselves are ossified, naturally on a bush (from rain and snow) - you just have to not miss the moment and collect them in time before they rot. And you can also put them in water and after a couple of weeks get ready-made "skeletons".

And in this way it’s great to skeletonize physalis. These are such bright orange lanterns on a branch, florists love to use them to make bouquets of dried flowers.

wet way

If you need a lot of leaves, it is most effective to skeletonize them in a wet way. Pour the leaves with water and add the Mole powder (pipe cleaner). In general, any aggressive household chemicals. You can take soda, of course, but I do not guarantee the result.

So, throw two or three tablespoons of the powder into the water and boil the leaves for several hours. For maple leaves, an hour is enough, for sycamore leaves (and other hard leaves) - two to three hours. Moreover, the smaller the plane tree leaf, the more time it needs to be cooked.

Next, we take out the leaves and wash them in a bowl of water. Three fingers to remove the pulp. Rubber gloves with pimples also help. If the pulp does not come off - cook more. Hard leaves need to be brushed with a toothbrush on wooden board. At the same time, we constantly moisten the toothbrush in water.

What kind of leaves oskeleize well? These are, first of all, maple leaves, plane trees. Poplar leaves (black or silver), birch, linden, aspen, oak, garden blueberry, walnut, alder, ficus leaves are excellent.

Skeletonized black poplar leaves

Skeletonized linden leaf

Skeletonized sycamore leaf

Skeletonized silver poplar leaf

Chestnut leaves are very delicate, but they can also be skeletonized. You just need to straighten them right in the water, and then get them already straightened, prying them with a saucer or a wooden spatula.

After skeletalizing, I leave the leaves to air dry. And then I just iron it with a warm iron. You can immediately put under the press, or immediately wet leaves iron it - that's how you want it. Very flimsy leaves cannot be shifted - they will tear or wrinkle. Let them dry first in a straightened form - the way you got them out of the water, and then transfer them wherever you want.

Chemical method

The chemical method - in fact, is also, in fact, wet. But here you do not boil or boil anything. Just fill the leaves with bleach (“Whiteness” will do) in half with water and wait. As they turn white - pull out, rinse. It turns out a white transparent leaf. You can also beat with a brush. And you can skeletonize the leaves by boiling and then bleach - it will turn out generally like the thinnest white lace - very beautiful.

Well, now the most important question - why did we actually do all this? Why are they needed, these skeletonized leaves?

First of all - such leaves are beautiful in themselves. And very unusual. An openwork cobweb made of veins, a transparent sheet, soft, as if made of fabric ... Of course, such a creation of nature undoubtedly attracted the attention of a person with artistic taste.

Here, for example, the artist Irina Ivi covers skeletonized leaves with gold or silver paint, then collects them into a composition in the form of a branch and seals them between two glasses. It turns out a very unusual transparent picture, in the depths of which weightless leaves mysteriously shimmer...

From lacy, openwork leaves, you can make interior dishes! The artist Kay Sekimachi was so impressed by the beauty of the skeletonized leaves that she decided to use them to create simple, yet very effective bowls and vases. And the fact that all these thousand dollar (!) vases have already been sold out clearly indicates that the audience appreciated the natural beauty of the skeletons:

You can also draw on skeletonized leaves! IN ancient india paper has always been expensive, but with leaves they grew everywhere and completely free. So the masters guessed to use foliage instead of paper. The leaves were processed by long soaking in water (wet method). It turned out an interesting material, thin, but at the same time durable. Then the skeletons were painted and sold.

And here is how the modern Kochetova Nadezhda draws:

Kochetova Nadezhda "Red Beauty"

Kochetova Nadezhda "Jay"

Kochetova Nadezhda "Song"

Kochetova Nadezhda Barn Owl

What is there to draw! Feather applications can be made on the leaves:

You can make miniature straw applications:

You can even print photos!

Do you think that's all? It would seem, well, how else is it possible to create paintings on leaves, and even skeletonized ones? Are there other options? Oddly enough, but there is! It turns out that images can be created on ordinary leaves by partially skeletonizing them! The way it is done in China: plane tree leaves (they are called "plane trees" there) are boiled in a special solution, and then the leaf is removed with a knife to the veins according to the sketch.

Leaf Carving Art

You can also embroider on skeletonized leaves! See what a gentle spring picture you get:

You can use them in patchwork or quilt (patchwork) as one of the elements of a complex background:

Gisele Blythe

Deborah Gregory

You can also use skeletons in felting - decorate imitation wool surfaces - felted scarves, dresses, hats, bags ... For example, the way Lyubov Voronina from the city of Ivanovo does it:

Lyubov Voronina

Eco-friendly wallpaper with a unique decor is made from skeletonized leaves. After all, each sheet is unique in itself!

They also make decorative paper:

Skeletons decorate postcards, albums (scrapbooking), passport covers, etc.:

Present handmade(Ekaterina)

[email protected](irochka84) "Envelope for money"

Evgenia (kjane) "Eco-postcard"

Marina Fazylova (m-tomcat) Passport Cover

They decorate the interior, wedding bouquets, napkins:

Bridal bouquet

Love (luba-pol) Wedding bouquet "Air mood"

Festive napkin

Skeleton leaves are great for decoupage of vases, cups, boxes, watches, etc.:

TARI (tari-elkiotter) Cup with skeletons

N@stenk@ Vase "Leaves in ice"

Elena Efremova (zzorik.ru) Cup with skeletons

Olga Koshkina (xsanf) Physalis salad bowl

Zuli Watch "Autumn Breath"

Murashka (Smile at your home) Wall clock and napkin holder

Oksana Mineeva (Kseniya) Hedgehog in the Fog Watch

Oksana Mineeva (Kseniya) Decorative plate "Hedgehogs"

For decoupage or felting lamps:

Skeleton vase

Wool "Skeleton lampshade"

Skeleton night light

Lampshades with skeletons

Mironova Inna (various colors) Lamp « Autumn forest»

Lamps with skeletons

In addition, they create jewelry in various ways.

For example, pour skeletons epoxy resin Earrings, rings, necklaces...

DarKera Necklace "Magic Tree Leaves"

"Pendant with skeleton"

NATURE IN A DROP (smolka-uvelira)

Anastasia Arinovich (bisenkan) Ice Leaf Pendant

Creative workshop "Mastyushka" Pendant "Autumn leaf"

NATURE IN A DROP (smolka-uvelira) Rings

Anastasia Arinovich (bisenkan) Earrings

Or they electroplated the skeletonized sheet with gold, silver or copper, creating a metallic patina of iridescent colors. It turns out amazing and unique in its beauty pendants ...

Katya Design Jewelry

Leonova Marina Leaf fall "Pomegranates"

Handmade by AlekSanta

Leonova Marina Falling leaves "Cat's eye and amethyst"

And of course, skeletonized leaves are used by florists!

Skeletonized leaves are leaves that have only veins left. The soft tissues of the leaf (scientifically "epidermis") are removed in various ways, and the so-called "skeleton" remains - an openwork mesh of veins.

Skeleton leaves can be easily bought in a flower shop, florist shop, decor store... You can also order it in the online store. It's fast, simple, convenient. Another plus is that the store sells skeletons of trees that do not grow in our area. For example:

Leaves of religious ficus (ficus religiosa) or Bo tree (tree Bo), Bodhi, Banyan; pipal (Peepal or Pippal):
Leaves of the rubber tree or Hevea brazilian (Hevea brasiliensis):
Magnolia leaves (Magnolia):
mango leaves (Mangifera indica):

However, buying leaves in the store is not always possible and not for everyone. Yes, and the choice is limited to only two or three types. It is much more interesting to make skeletons yourself!

Firstly, boiling the leaves in washing soda is mentioned everywhere - not the best option, since not everyone can find this powder in their city. I didn't find it either, although I've been looking for a long time.
Secondly, the effect of this soda is very doubtful. Readers of the site often write to me and tell me that they can’t do anything with soda!
Some people try to use baking soda instead of washing soda, but it does not work even more. Yes, some leaves can become skeletal after boiling, but even just boiling in hot water without any additives is enough - soft, loose leaves, such as chestnut, this is enough.
It is generally ridiculous to talk about soaking in green tea - complete nonsense.
Thirdly, there are much more effective and affordable means.

So how do you actually effectively skeletonize leaves?

There are several ways:

Dry
Wet
Natural

Dry way

The dry method is good when you urgently need one or two skeletonized leaves. You are tormented to do more, since it takes about 15-20 minutes of vigorous action per sheet.

Press-dried leaves can also be used. In this case, you will get not a skeletonized leaf, but simply an openwork one - also an interesting option. And here just the brush may not be very hard.

Natural skeletonization method

The leaves are wonderfully skeletonized in a natural way - that is, nature itself creates such leaves, you just need to notice and pick them up in time.

And in this way it’s great to skeletonize physalis. These are such bright orange lanterns on a branch, florists love to use them to make bouquets of dried flowers.

In principle, the lanterns themselves are skewered, naturally on a bush (from rain and snow) - you just have to not miss the moment and collect them in time before they rot. And you can also put them in water and after a couple of weeks get ready-made "skeletons".

You can also see how I skeletonized the leaves in this way.

wet way

If you need a lot of leaves, it is most effective to skeletonize them in a wet way. Pour the leaves with water and add the Mole powder (pipe cleaner). In general, any aggressive household chemicals will do. There is a lot on the Internet. You can take soda, of course, but I do not guarantee the result.

Next, we take out the leaves and wash them in a bowl of water. Three fingers to remove the pulp. Rubber gloves with pimples also help. If the pulp does not come off - cook more. Hard leaves need to be brushed with a toothbrush on a wooden board. At the same time, we constantly moisten the toothbrush in water. See more about this method

Passion for applied art is becoming stronger and captures more and more creative people. Many of them find a pleasant and useful recreation in needlework, and some even turn it into work. One way or another, but today we can already observe not just samples of homemade products from textbooks for labor lessons, but examples of real craftsmanship. And it includes a lot of very different, sometimes very complex, requiring special skill, techniques. The more skills a master masters perfectly, the more opportunities open up for him, the more he is capable of in a burst of inspiration. And one of the main sources of this inspiration has always been and remains nature.

Natural materials are an inexhaustible source of ideas for fans of the most different types needlework. They inspire masters of appliqué and scrapbooking, florists and designers, creators of interior accessories and jewelry. Each of them more than once brought summer green or colorful flowers to his creative workshop. autumn leaves to subject them to further processing and transformation. Skeletonization occupies one of the first places among such techniques. It allows you to create amazing designs and details for paintings, scrapbooks, furniture and DIY.

Why do leaves skeletonize
Skeletonized leaves are great for creating exclusive postcards, decorative covers and dry bouquets. They can be placed in a passe-partout and baguettes to decorate the walls of the room, or glued to another base, and then combined with each other and with other materials. In short, their use is possible in any case that your artistic imagination suggests.

In fact, skeletonization is the drying and processing of leaves in such a way as to reveal the entire structure of their structure, veins and small vessels through which juice flows, that is, the “skeleton”, hence the name. Accordingly, the more beautiful the sheet was initially, the more interesting it will become after skeletonization. It does not matter on which tree or shrub it grew, the main thing is that its structure bewitches and makes you look carefully into the interweaving of thin lines. Most often, maple, oak, bay, as well as magnolia and ivy leaves have these data. They are quite dense and tolerate processing well, but you still need to choose only whole, healthy and undamaged specimens.

Leaf skeletonization methods
To date applied art has reached such an extent that industrial manufacturers offer the masters ready-made materials and components for their works. But real architecture requires a different approach: only hand-made details can form a truly exclusive result. Therefore, we suggest that you skeletonize the leaves with your own hands. This will allow you to choose those that best embody your creative idea and convey it expressively to the audience. To do this, choose any of the two methods, or use both alternately:

Skeletonization of leaves with soda. Take hard leaves (green or yellowed), ordinary household soda, clean water. We do not specifically indicate the volumes of substances, because how many you need will depend on the number and shape of the leaves. Also, arm yourself with a saucepan and a toothbrush or a bouncy paint brush.
Make a saturated solution of soda in water - by eye, but not less than 10-15 tablespoons per liter. Pour into a saucepan and put on fire. Bring to a boil and when soda solution boil, carefully lower the leaves into it. Reduce the heat, but keep the boiling process. Let it continue along with the leaves for another 20-30 minutes. Make sure each leaf is covered with water, and add more as it boils away. Then take out the leaves and rinse gently with clean water.
Now, one by one, take out the boiled leaves and put them on a napkin or cutting board laid on the table. With a brush, carefully scrape off the green flesh, which has become loose and pliable. Some craftsmen use a foam sponge for washing dishes for this purpose. We recommend that you keep a few on hand. different instruments(brush, sponge, brush) and use them depending on the characteristics of each sheet.
After the structure of the leaves is sufficiently exposed, they must be washed again and blotted with a soft cloth. After that, place it under a special press or between the pages of a thick book. This stage will last 2-3 days and, in general, resembles the preparation of a herbarium.
Leaf skeletonization with tea. In addition to a few fresh leaves, you will need dry loose green tea and all the same other ingredients and tools as described in the first paragraph. There are no special requirements for tea, so for such technical purposes, you can take the most inexpensive pack. Unless the aroma of jasmine and other fillers are inappropriate, unless you decide to drink a cup while the leaves are boiled.
Brew strong tea and pour into a saucepan. Dip the leaves in it and leave for half an hour or an hour. When the leaves are soaked, transfer the pan to the stove, pour a tablespoon of soda into the tea and bring to a boil. Boil for 20 minutes, then drain the liquid and pour the leaves again with strong green tea. Immediately after that, they can be taken out and scraped off excess pulp. Unlike the "soda" technology, tea affects the leaves more gently and sparingly. On the one hand, it helps not to damage their base. On the other hand, not all dense leaves lend themselves to skeletonization with tea.

Do not be discouraged if you tear the leaf a little during the cleaning process. Try to put it under the press as carefully as possible, and when it dries in this position, the damage will not be noticeable.

Refinement of skeletonized leaves
After the days that the skeletonized leaves are under pressure, they can be used for any creative purpose. But without additional processing, they usually do not look very interesting. You can make them more attractive in one of the following ways:

Dip the skeletonized sheet into the bleach solution for a couple of minutes. Then paint its lightened surface with watercolor paint. You can add color with food coloring, gouache, etc.
Dried skeletonized sheet can be dyed spray paint from a balloon. Leaves painted in gold or silver are especially beautiful. You can use the paint alone or arrange it with a gradient.

Perhaps your imagination will tell you to use paint with a holographic effect or others. creative ideas. After all, skeletonized leaves are only the basis, raw material to create exquisite and original decor items.

Leaves for decoration. A photo

Skeleton leaves are great for scrapbooking and card making, and can also be used to create unusual flowers for decoration.

Leaves of maple, oak, laurel, poplar, ivy, magnolia are perfect for skeletonization. For this procedure, it is desirable to choose hard leaves. Below is the fastest and easiest way to make skeletonized leaves.

To skeletonize the leaves you will need:

Leaves (choose stiffer)

About 10 teaspoons of baking soda

Liter cold water

Brush (toothbrush, dishwashing sponge)

Leaf skeletonization step by step:

Harvest fresh leaves that are tougher to the touch.

Dissolve about ten to twelve teaspoons of soda in one liter of cold water.

Heat the resulting solution on fire. When it boils, you need to put the leaves in it and cook them for 20-30 minutes. If necessary, you can add water if the solution starts to boil away.

After that, the boiled leaves should be rinsed in cold water.

After that, the leaves should be washed again in cold water.

At the end, blot the leaves with a napkin and put under the press for 1-3 days. You can place them between books.

Skeleton leaves can be dyed with food coloring if desired.

Tip: to lighten the sheet, you need to immerse it in bleach for a couple of minutes, it will acquire a light yellowish tint. Then you can paint the sheet with watercolors in the desired color.

Well, then, as fantasy tells, in the sense of using the resulting product for creativity. Such leaves can be used in scrapbooking, decorating postcards and more. Good luck with your creativity!