fall leafs from van dyke's

[fireduck]

I ordered some oak leaves from Van dyke's
But the leaves are bent and out of shape

How do I  fix this. any help.

[Hoss.]

Are they cloth?
If so, place them between some thick paper and iron them softly.

[fireduck]

to me they look real with sometype of coating around them

[Hoss.]

Take one and burn it, if it melts; its cloth, if it turns to ash; its real.

If its real, I would try the iron, or lay them out flat and put a heavy book on them.

[carlymac]

Yea...
They are real leaves that have been preserved and dyed. They look pretty good but like you say they are kinna wadded up. You can press them with books, Never tried In iron but I'm sure that would work...
The WILL leave dye on your hands or anthing that touches them so keep that in mind.

[3maytaxidermy]

put between books x2

[Nancy C]

I have had good success ironing the real ones. They weren't sold by Van Dykes but I think they were the exact same thing except that I got them from Walmart.
The trick is to use low heat and to press them between two layers of slightly damp cloth.

[fireduck]

Thanks for the info. here is what i DID  layed them out and taped them to hard surface then use a hair dryer..That seemed to work. took alot of time.

[sarahdj]

Glad you got it fixed.  If anyone else has the issue, if you do the book flattening, it helps keep you from losing dye/staining books if you put some wax paper on top & bottom of the leaves too.  It doesn't stick and no bleeding worries.