Pressing Flowers

As Spring has recently arrived and the weather has somewhat improved, I thought I would write an entry on pressing flowers. The process of pressing flowers basically is a way of preserving them so they last forever. Once pressed they can be used in art form such as scrap booking, card making or just as a keepsake if they were a present from someone special. I was actually really successful with these methods so I thought I would share them

So the first method I used was to completely press them. To do this, you need a really heavy book (I used a dictionary), grease proof paper and kitchen roll. Firstly, open the book near the middle and cut a piece of grease proof paper that will stretch across both pages. By doing so, no flower juice gets on the pages and ruins it! Next place a piece of kitchen roll on the right side, on top of this goes the flower and then another piece of kitchen roll. The kitchen roll will help dry the flower out. After this you can close the book. The time-span of each type of flower varies but it shouldn't take any more than a week. With my first attempt I left it slightly too long and unfortunately my flowers went mouldy, the time frame between perfectly pressed and mouldy is very slim, so my advice is to keep checking. I also placed a crate of drinks on top of the book just to really squish it. Once the pressing process is complete I left my flower in a sunny window. You want all the moisture to be gone from the flower so it doesn't go mouldy, this proved to be sufficient.


The next method doesn't give you the conventional pressed flower. It uses the same process of drying but you are left with the flower shape. To do this, you'll need a piece of ribbon or string and an airing cupboard. All you need to do is pull the leaves and the already dead petals off the plant. Then turn them upside down and tie a very secure, tight knot around the stems. After this tie the other end of the string onto a pipe or similar structure in the airing cupboard. Try not to tie it too near the front otherwise they keep getting knocked by clothes and things which damages the plant. This doesn't take as long to dry but again it varies from plant to plant. Once satisfied you can untie the flowers and you'll be left with the same shape. They will be completely dry so there is no need to leave them in the sun.

I think I prefer the outcome of the book pressing method, but that's probably because its then easier to use in art. The airing cupboard method works best if you're trying to preserve the flower as a keepsake. You can actually buy special contraptions to press the flowers from art shops but you honestly do get the same results as using a book. I think I might try and press flowers from a variety of special places and then make it into a journal.