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I first did this last year, and it worked well enough that I thought I'd try again. There are three basic steps: Find leaves and dry them, coat them in polyurethane, and then string them. I should note that my strings from last year are still in good enough shape to use again this year.
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First, find some good leaves. I used maple leaves, and got a combination of red, yellow, and orange leaves. Some of the color will fade, so it's good to get leaves that contrast as much as possible. I also looked for leaves that didn't have holes in them. I put the leaves in a big ol' book, and let them sit overnight to dry and flatten out (if you wait about 24 hours, the leaves may crinkle a bit before the end product; if you wait 48 hours you will get a chain of completely flat leaves).
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Next, spray a coat of polyurethane over them (outside, well ventilated, read the warning label). I use a semi-gloss coating, which I think gives them a nice natural-ish look. A full gloss could be a bit over-powering, and no gloss means a little less color. You have to make sure to coat both sides of the leaves, and try not to spray them too much (a light coating is all you need).
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Once the polyurethane dries, you are ready to string them up. All you need is brown (or red or orange or yellow or whatever) color thread and a needle. I thread two holes in each leaf, about half an inch apart, to make the leaves perpendicular to the chain. I make chains about two to three feet long; the longer the chain the more difficult to keep it un-tangled, and the leaves are delicate so you don't want to have to mess around with them too much. Tie off the ends by tying the thread back onto itself in a loop around the end leaf. Enjoy!
Love this idea!
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