We love to gift handmade items. Last year we decorated candles with pressed leaves to give as handmade gifts. They turned out so well that we made them again. Today I wanted to share them with you as they are so much fun to make and gift.

To make your own pressed leaf candles you will need:

Plain white candles

Selection of leaves

Glue stick

Parchment paper

How to decorate candles with pressed leaves

On our way home from school we collected some of the prettiest fallen leaves we found. We picked up both big and small leaves, ones which we thought would look good on our candles.

We placed the leaves in a flower press for a couple of weeks, this made sure they were both dry and flat. If you don’t have a flower press then place the leaves between layers of parchment paper and place under a heavy book.

We took the leaves out of the flower press. My daughter chose the leaves she wanted to use first. She applied glue to the back of the leaf, then gently pressed it onto the candle.

She trimmed away any long stems so the leaves would lie flat.

When we had finished decorating the candles we carefully wrapped each candle in more parchment paper and placed elastic bands around them. We left them to dry for a few days before removing the parchment paper.

It is so easy to decorate candles with pressed leaves and we think they make a lovely handmade gift too.