Autumn Leaf Lamp

 by noahw
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This colorful hanging lamp is made from fallen autumn leaves and a section of salvaged tree trunk.  It's nearly free to make since almost all of the parts are provided by mother nature, and helps preserve the awesomeness of autumn all year long in your very own home.  Even if it's not autumn where you live, you can still collect and press different types of pleasing foliage - flowers, plants etc...  

Luckily I live in Oakland, where the leaves change color for an abnormally long amount of the year - the concept of seasons is certainly confusing to me where I live since the weather is almost always nice, so perhaps it's tricky for the trees to figure out too.
 
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Step 1: Collect Leaves

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Keep your eyes open for nicely shaped and spectacularly colored fallen leaves.  Roam the streets, comb the gutters, get a crook in your neck by staring up at trees and do your wind dance to summon a gust to blow them down to your grasping hands.  Green leaves also look great when pressed, so don't think they've all got to be in the prime of their color changing show.  Having lots of candidates is a good idea since some of the leaves tend to get  damaged in the drying and spraying process (future steps). 

This wasn't exactly what it looked like when I collected leaves...
sunslayer says: Oct 5, 2012. 4:35 AM
Great job!! Two Thumbs up!. I want to follow right away after watch your steps. One more time: GREAT JOB!!!
noahw (author) in reply to sunslayerOct 5, 2012. 8:35 AM
Thanks for your comment and support!
hogthrob says: Sep 18, 2012. 10:55 PM
what a lovely project!
blu3ph03nixx says: Jul 31, 2012. 9:02 PM
WOW that is really creative! One of the most economical projects I have seen so far
SaraBethMcgee says: Mar 19, 2012. 7:29 AM
BEAUTIFUL!!!!! I am looking for an interesting lamp to enhance the lighting in my apartment. This is perfect!
catherineflowermonkey says: Mar 19, 2012. 3:51 AM
Fantastic idea and wonderfully made. I look forward to making this project later on this year
philobusta says: Mar 19, 2012. 1:40 AM
Very nice indeed, this will look good in my daughters room.
dantistus says: Mar 18, 2012. 2:40 PM
Nice, man, very great idea! I think you could make it even better if you drilled bigger holes in the walls of the wooden tube to create fun shadow effects with the leaves.
surrealista1 says: Mar 18, 2012. 10:45 AM
A beautiful design, an amazing idea, i am glad you put it here
ColoradoGirl42 says: Mar 18, 2012. 8:43 AM
This is a WONDERFUL idea, and it was VERY generous of you to go to the trouble of documenting and posting it. Our autumn season here in the mountains of Colorado only lasts around 3 weeks if we're lucky, but it's beautiful. I envy you the long leaf season and wide variety of leaves you have.

Thanks so much for this great idea!
CatTrampoline says: Mar 18, 2012. 8:40 AM
I'll bet this makes very pleasing shadowson the walls at night. Two thumbs up!
laxap says: Mar 16, 2012. 12:36 PM
I like the style and swirling effect very much!
porcupinemamma says: Mar 16, 2012. 4:37 AM
It looks lovely!
breumer says: Mar 16, 2012. 12:14 AM
Wow! Awesome idea !
Loopstyle says: Mar 15, 2012. 5:38 AM
Great job :)
Mimikry says: Mar 15, 2012. 3:44 AM
Stunning one!
Jayefuu says: Mar 14, 2012. 4:10 PM
Great project Noah!
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