Leaves of North America

Leaves of North America

Phil DeJarnett
Hand-made leaf gifts

In the spring of 2023, I made gifts for my coworkers that looked like common leaves from trees native to North America (or just common to the area). I made tulip poplar, sassafras, eastern redbud, ginkgo, maple, and others.

 They were just made out of scraps, so they weren't made with any specific species of wood. Each one took a while to make, hand-shaped on the bandsaw, then meticulously sanded until they felt nice.

What made them particularly unique is that the blanks are cut on a curve, so each leaf has dimension that allows them to look natural. And they were a big hit. I really enjoyed making them.

In the years since, I've been thinking about these gifts, and how I could make them more efficiently, but also how to use them to celebrate trees and their leaves. And so I began to work new techniques that allowed me to produce more than one size of leaf, and out of the specific hardwood the leaf represents.

Prototype Magnets


The first attempt was to use simple 1/4" solid wood, cut on 30º miters, glued on end. (The angle let's the wood's grain look like the natural texture of the leaves.) These blanks were then cut out using the laser. The resulting design was OK, but the glue-up was tedious, and the resulting magnets were a little boring, being flat.

Prototype Leaf Magnets

Small Leaf Version 2.0

I felt like I had the right idea, but I wanted to get more texture into the leaves. The solution was to start with a thicker blank, and use the bandsaw to cut 3 thinner blanks out of it. Each wider blank would yield a flat magnet and two magnets with curves on the face. (Also visible in the photo is a large leaf blank being glued up and the resulting pieces.)

Gluing up blanksBlanks after being cut apart
These blanks then undergo extensive hand-sanding to get the surface smooth, from 80 grit up to 120 grit. From there, the blanks are aligned in a jig, and the front surfaces are engraved, then the outline cut out. Each leaf is flipped over, and installed in a second jig, which allows the backs to be engraved as well.

Laser engraving and cutting Tulip Poplar leavesLaser engraving and cutting Tulip Poplar leaves

A final sanding to 180 removes any scorch marks from the laser engraving. Each leaf is cleaned, and then sprayed with lacquer for a beautiful, durable finish that let's the natural wood color and texture shine through.

Spraying finish on over 100 leaves

Larger Leaves

The larger leaves go through a similar process, with the big difference being that each one is cut from a single, larger starting block that includes a stem, usually made from walnut. Also, instead of having a flat back (for the magnet), they are curved on both sides, inviting you to pick them up and handle them.

The larger leaves require even more hand-sanding and finishing, as the laser is unable to cut out the entire shape. They are also sanded up to a higher grit, as high as 220, to improve the feel in your hand.

Current Species and Future

The first batch of leaves is made of these varieties:

  • Tulip Poplar or Tulip Tree (Liriodendron tulipifera)
    State tree of Kentucky, Tennessee, and Indiana.
  • Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum)
    State tree of New York, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
  • Red Maple (Acer rubrum)
    State tree of Rhode Island. This leaf is made out of Hard Maple, which is similar in appearance.
  • Quaking Aspen (Populus tremuloides)
    State tree of Utah.
  • Ohio Buckeye (Aesculus glabra)
    State tree of Ohio. This leaf is made out of Aspen due to limited availability of Buckeye, but is similar in appearance and weight.

I already have designed and sourced wood for a wide array of trees, including Alder, Hickory, Beech, Sassafras, Sycamore, White Oak, and Birch. I have plans for a few trees that I cannot source the lumber for, including Flowering Dogwood, Ginkgo, and Redbud. I'm also working on designs for non-deciduous trees, such as Douglas Fir, Hemlock, Cedar, and Pine.

This is an actively growing collection, so subscribe to our newsletter to find out when I release new designs.

I hope you enjoy this celebration of the wonderful trees we get to see every day around us, and if you have a favorite tree, please leave a comment below, or reach out to me directly!

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