Pressing flowers is a great way of transforming the beauty of fresh flowers into long-lasting treasures. The effects can be simply stunning. They lend themselves to a wide range of creative uses - decorating cards, candles, paper, lanterns - and you'll find all sorts of great ideas on the Internet. We focus on flowers and creative activities that bring sensory interest through qualities like scent, texture, colour combinations and memory associations.
How to make pressed flowers
Pressing is very straightforward. It can be as simple as putting flowers between the leaves of a book although to work with more material and get more predictable results it's better to use a flower press. These are cheap to buy or simple to make.
The technique is very easy, here are the basics:
- Blot any wet leaves or flowers
- Trim down any larger flowers or stalks
- Open up the flower press
- Arrange on a sheet of paper
- Cover the flowers with a sheet of paper and then card
- Replace the cover of the flower press and tighten the screws
- Wait 5-7 days for the flowers to dry
If you want to keep your flowers and leaves supple when they are dry you can soak them in glycerin first.
