CraftPals
skeletonize Oak leaves
##### I use the following recipe to skeletonize Oak leaves.
Hope you or anyone else who is interested in this technique will like it.
Please remember that lye is very caustic. It can be found in most grocery stores.
It is used in soap making as well. Enjoy! Bonny
SKELETONIZING LEAVES
Boil in porcelain or glass (no metal)
1 quart water
Carefully add 2 Tablespoons of granular lye
Immerse leaves & simmer 40 minutes
DO NOT PUT HANDS IN THIS SOLUTION
Remove leaves and rinse them in cool water
Lay leaf flat on a wood surface and
gently scrape and rub away the fleshy pulp
with the dull edge of a table knife.
Do this
on both sides of leaf.
If you wish to make them a lighter color, soak
the leaves in a solution of 1 quart of water and
2 Tablespoons of chlorine bleach (such as Purex)
Soak one hour for a creamy biege color and two
hours or longer for a snowy white.
Rinse carefullly in cool water
Dry flat between paper towels