YOu Did it

Color Your World

wonderful entertainment. This one's
ich green leaves look great
not in the chronicles, but I guaran-
on trees. They also look
tee it works every time. As my 1
reat when they're not so
year-old
son; Will, shifts into various
green. Swirling in the air, falling to
baby stages, I've watched him for
the ground and awash in brilliant
many a moment fix his eyes on the
colors, autumn leaves remind of us
trees outdoors, watching the effects
of positive changes and things to
of a mysterious wind move
come.
the leaves about. When
There are many creative
he's having a bad moment,
uses for fall's treasures. The
I say, "Let's go watch the
most unique leaf display I've
leaves!" and hold him in
seen is at the 1-year-old
front of our indoor fig tree.
Nature Center at George
Instantly, the leaves and
Suarez Friendship Woods in
Megan Swoyer branches soothe him.
Madison Heights.
But let's get back to the
Tucked deep into the
Spec ial to
artistic
side of leaves. One
The Ap pleTree
woods sits a gorgeous
can do so much with these
nature center that almost
plentiful autumn blessings. On the
looks like an old-fashioned home-
easy end of the scale is a paint-
stead. Next to the front door is an
and-stamp craft do-able for just
eye-catching ground display of vari-
about any age.
ous tiles imbedded with different
leaf shapes.
"Everyone comments on those,"
says Jenny Martin, the nature cen-
Several years ago, I decided to
ter's recreation supervisor.
stop buying gift wrap. With so
A local group of fourth-grade stu-
many beautiful items
dents from Hiller Elementary and a
from nature's
couple of their teachers are the cre-
bounty scat-
ators of this magical display outside
tered in my
the 2,400-square-foot log cabin.
back yard,
"The leaf mosaic reflects the many
why not make
nuances of nature," Martin says,
it?
and we're planning on doing
Painted
more."
leaf prints

Gifts With Presence

Leafing Through
History

Leaves have played a major role
in our lives since day one. Folks of
the past and in some countries
today use large, tropical leaves for
wrapping and storing food. And, I
discovered, leaves also made
handy plates. Several groups in his-
tory once used specific types of
leaves to write on.
I also know that they also provide

10/17

1997

74

scattered
on plain
wrapping
paper
give
packages
their own
personali-
ty. Here are
some easy,
anyone-can-
do-it instruc-
tions on how
to wow your

gift recipients.
First, stock up on a variety of
acrylic paints from any craft store.
Michael's (various locations in the
metro area) has dozens of colors
from which to choose. I used
shades from the teal, silver and
gold families.
Purchase a couple rolls of plain
paper, as well. White is a good
choice to showcase the art work,
while brown (mailing paper) creates
a natural look. Don't want to spend
money on the wrap? Get out those
brown paper, grocery-store bags
you were planning to recycle and
cut them up into large pieces. With
the store's name on the under side,
you're ready to paint and stamp.
Collect your favorite leaves, and
keep in mind that freshly fallen ones
work best.
Add some adventure to the gath-
ering aspect by doing your leaf
search at the Madison Heights
Nature Center. As these places go,
this one tops my list. It features 36
acres of natural preservation on 1-
1/3 miles of paved trails
and the indoor center is
home to snakes, turtles
and a variety of fish.
While you're at it, gather
a few pine cones for
package adornment. I
even used a couple
of fig-tree leaves
(my son, Will,
shook a few
loose) to
create
size vari-
ety.
Cover
your work
surface
with
newspa-
per. Brush

a coat of paint on the back of a
leaf. Place the leaf, paint side
down, on the wrapping paper. Lay
a. piece of scrap paper over the
leaf, and push lightly down on the
paper. Remove paper and peel
back the leaf.
If you want various degrees of
paint from rich tones to faded,
paler tones, continue to use the
same leaf a couple of times without
putting fresh paint on it. Smaller
leaves stamped in a row can create co-__
picture outlines or a person's name. c
Tie up your packages with raffia
or natural twine to continue the
nature theme, and embellish the
bow with one or two pine cones.
You can paint the pine cones with
the same paint you used on the
paper. Paint the entire cone, or just (=-=
fleck with dots of paint on its tips. '-
To attach the ribbon to the pine
cone, tie it around the cone's body
in the center. Don't tie it too tight or
it will break. Make gift tags out of
the same wrapping paper for a fin-
ishing touch.
Toddlers can make leaf prints on
wrapping paper as well, without
the paint mess. To make "leaf
reliefs," scatter some leaves
beneath the wrapping paper, then
color over the top of the wrapping
paper with crayons. The results? A
pretty leaf shape that reveals the
(1---,j
many lines and'veins of the leaf.
If you want to go beyond crafty
and get scientific, explain to the
children why leaves have veins and
discuss the photosynthesis and tran-
spiration process. You won't get that
information here as I just about
flunked science class. But if you're
in the mood for a field trip, you can
extend your craft time by planning
a trip to your nearby library, book-
store or nature center to find out
more about leaves.

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