Fall Leaf Pressing Wall Art: The Backyard Botanist Trend Anyone Can Try
If you have spent any time on Pinterest or Instagram this fall, you have probably seen it: framed leaves, perfectly flat and golden, hanging in neat little rows on someone’s living room wall. That is the backyard botanist trend, and it might be my favorite thing happening in home decor right now. It is not about buying a curated bundle of dried stems from a shop. It is about walking around your own yard, picking up the leaves that are already falling at your feet, and turning them into something you would actually want to hang up.
I love this project because it costs almost nothing, it does not require any special artistic skill, and it gives you a reason to actually go outside and pay attention to the season instead of just scrolling past it. A maple leaf that has turned three different shades of red, an oak leaf with a perfect jagged edge, a ginkgo fan still holding onto its yellow. Once they are pressed flat and framed, they look like something you would find in a botanical field guide from a hundred years ago, except you found them in your own backyard this week.
This is a slower project than most of what I usually share here. Pressing takes about a week of patient waiting, not an afternoon. But almost none of that time is hands-on, and the payoff is a piece of wall art that feels personal in a way a store-bought print never will.
What Makes Leaf Pressing Actually Work
Before you head outside with a basket, there are a few things that make the difference between leaves that press beautifully and leaves that turn brown and crumble.
Pick leaves that are dry and freshly fallen, not ones that have been sitting in a wet pile on the ground. A little moisture is fine, but soggy leaves mold before they ever flatten out. Reach for variety in shape and color rather than grabbing a dozen of the same leaf. A mix of maple, oak, ginkgo, and even a few smaller leaves like birch gives your finished piece real visual interest.
Flatter leaves press more evenly than thick, waxy, or curled ones, so skip anything that feels rubbery or is already curling at the edges. And patience matters more than technique here. Leaves that are rushed out of the press before they are fully dry will warp or fade faster once they are framed, so give them the full week even if they look flat after just a day or two.
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What You Will Need
- Fallen leaves from your own yard or a nearby park: the whole point of this project, so gather more than you think you need since not every leaf presses perfectly.
- A flower press or heavy books you already own: this wooden flower press gives you even pressure and lets you check progress without disturbing the leaves, though a stack of hardcover books works too.
- Absorbent parchment or blotting paper: unbleached parchment paper keeps the leaves from sticking to your press or your books while pulling out moisture.
- Sturdy cardboard or cardstock sheets: heavyweight cardstock sheets layered between your leaves add stiffness and help distribute the weight evenly.
- Fine tip tweezers: precision tweezers let you position delicate, fully dried leaves without tearing them.
- A soft brush for cleaning leaves: a small soft craft brush whisks off dirt and dust before you press, so your finished piece looks clean under glass.
- Acid free mat board or cardstock backing: acid free mat board keeps your pressed leaves from yellowing or degrading the way regular paper can over time.
- Craft glue or a glue pen made for delicate materials: an archival glue pen gives you precise control so you are not soaking a fragile pressed leaf in liquid glue.
- Shadow box or float frames: float frames hold your leaves flat between two panes of glass so they seem to hover, which is exactly the look this trend is known for.
- A small level: a compact bubble level makes hanging a whole grid of frames straight so much easier than eyeballing it.
How to Press and Frame Your Leaves, Step by Step
1. Gather more leaves than you think you need. Take a walk around your yard or a nearby park on a dry day and collect a wide variety: different shapes, sizes, and colors. Plan on pressing at least twice as many as you plan to frame, since some will tear, curl, or turn brown in ways you cannot predict ahead of time.
2. Clean and sort your leaves. Gently brush off any dirt or debris with your soft brush. Sort leaves by size and thickness so you can group similar ones together in the press, since thick and thin leaves need slightly different pressing time.
3. Layer them into your press. Place a sheet of parchment paper down first, then arrange your leaves so they are not overlapping. Cover with another sheet of parchment, then a piece of cardstock, and repeat the layers until you have pressed everything you collected. If you are using books instead of a flower press, follow the same layering method between the pages.
4. Apply steady pressure and wait. Tighten the press screws evenly on all corners, or stack additional heavy books on top if you are using that method. Set it somewhere out of the way and leave it completely undisturbed for five to seven days.
5. Check for full dryness before removing. Leaves are ready when they feel papery and stiff, not cool or flexible. If a leaf still feels slightly damp or cool to the touch, put it back and give it another day or two. Rushing this step is the single biggest reason leaves warp after framing.
6. Arrange your leaves before you commit to glue. Lay your dried leaves out on your mat board or directly in your frame’s opening and move them around until you like the composition. A loose, slightly asymmetrical scatter usually looks more natural than a perfectly even grid.
7. Secure each leaf with a tiny dot of glue. Use your glue pen to place the smallest possible dot on the back of each leaf, right at the stem or the thickest part of the leaf. Too much glue will seep out from under the edges and show once it is framed.
8. Frame and hang. Assemble your float frame or shadow box, use your level to get it straight, and hang it somewhere it will not get direct sunlight, which fades pressed leaves faster than almost anything else.
Tips for Leaves That Actually Last
Keep your framed leaves out of direct sun. A north facing wall or a hallway away from windows will keep the colors from fading for years instead of months. If you notice any leaf starting to look dusty or dull after it is framed, resist the urge to clean the glass with anything other than a dry microfiber cloth, since moisture can work its way in around the edges of a float frame.
If a leaf tears while you are pressing it, do not throw it out. A slightly imperfect leaf still looks beautiful pressed and framed, and honestly, some of my favorite pieces have a small torn edge that just adds to the handmade, gathered-from-nature feeling of the whole project.
Consider labeling your favorite specimens with the tree name in small handwriting on the mat board, the way an old botanical illustration would. It takes the project from “cute fall craft” to something that feels intentional and collected, which is really the whole spirit of the backyard botanist trend.
Ready for More Nature Inspired Crafts?
If gathering and preserving things from your own yard sounds like your kind of project, you will probably also love cyanotype sun prints, another way to turn leaves and stems into wall art using nothing but sunlight and a little chemistry. And if you end up with more pressed leaves than frames, tucking a few flat specimens into a junk journal is a lovely way to use the rest.
