Learn how to make pressed flowers and preserve some of the garden beauty for art, crafts, and to enjoy all year. Pressed flowers are a fun project, and even kids and toddlers can get involved in harvesting, selecting, and pressing fresh flowers for later crafts.
Pressed flowers can be made with any thin petal garden flower, pansies are a great option, rose petals press beautifully, and even peony petals can also be pressed. Bell shaped flowers can be pressed flat, though they won’t be fully open or 3D after pressing. Dry flowers, like straw flowers, can be dried without pressing for 3D flower art or pressed flat while open for pressed flower art.
While dandelions are fun, they don’t work well for pressed flowers due to being too damp, and not very press-able, unless very young. They often try to turn into seed heads, even when in the flower press! Also, full sized sunflowers don’t work well in a flower press, but the large sunflower petals can be safely and efficiently pressed.
If you have pollen allergies, or pollen concerns, I would also avoid pressing any flowers with their stamens, especially lilies, since they have a heavy pollen load. Remove stamens before pressing the flowers if you wish to press those types of flowers, or press individual petals.
There are two primary ways to make your own pressed flowers, the first is with a flower press, and the second is using large books as a flower press. Both methods can make satisfactory pressed flowers and leaves, but the book method does need a few extra steps to keep the books in good order.
Flowers to Press:
Any semi flat flower with a small calyx can work well for pressing. Large petals, with the calyx and stamina removed, can also work for this preservation method. Aim for plants with flat blooms like Pansies and violas when you’re first starting. You can also press leaves, ferns, herbs, and grasses. The thickness of the materials you’re pressing will somewhat determine the drying time, a thicker flower or lots of thick petals will need a few extra days to dry. Full zinnias for example will take longer to dry than a nasturtium or the petals from a sunflower.
Harvest plant materials for pressing after the morning dew has dried, but before the plants are in direct sun. Chose leaves or petals that are not bug damaged, and check for uninvited guests, like spiders, before starting to layer your materials. Ferns and other unique greenery can also be pressed and look amazing in displays. The best blossoms for your projects are the ones that are closest to you. You can also dry apple or cherry blossoms.
If you are crafting with your preserved plant materials avoid putting any art in direct sunlight. The sun can bleach out the color from pressed flowers.
Build a Flower Press:
Build a simple wooden press with items from the hardware store.
2 – 16″ square pieces of 1/2 inch ply wood or similar weighted wood
4 – 6″ threaded bolts
4 wing nuts and washers that can thread onto the bolts
10 sheets of paper, use blotting paper, or watercolor type paper cut 1/2 inch smaller than the wooden squares.
Building the Wooden Flower Press:
Cut the ply wood or wood of choice to size. Sand the edges to remove any splinters. The wood does not have to be finely sanded, just enough to prevent splinters.
Drill a hole in each corner, about 1/3 inch in from each corner. Drill the holes on both boards. To make sure the holes match, clamp the boards on top of each other and drill through both at the same time.
Place the threaded bolts through each of the corners of the bottom board. The underside of your press will have the bolt heads, and they will act as feet. You can glue the bolt in place if it seems loose or like it might loosen.
Layer your paper and flowers on top of the bottom board. Start with a layer of paper, then flowers, then paper, and end with paper. Flowers should be sandwiched. You can also add a piece of cardboard before the first layer of paper, and after the last layer of paper for more bulk and better drying and airflow if desired. Make sure you are using sheets of absorbent paper and that the flowers are in a single layer of petals.
Place the top board on and press it down onto the flowers. The top board may need to have the corner holes made slightly larger than the bottom board, so that the top board slides down the corner bolts easily.
Use the wing nuts and washers to secure the top board in place, pressing down on the flower and paper sandwich.
Flowers will dry in about 1 week. You can tighten down the board more as the drying progresses. After about 1 week, remove the board, and unmake the flower and paper sandwich. Place dried plants in a plastic box, with moisture absorbers until you are ready to use them in crafting.
Keep your wooden flower press loose when not in use, and let your pieces of paper dry out thoroughly before storage.
Using a Book:
How to make pressed flowers using a book, start with large and heavy books. An old encyclopedia or moderate age dictionary is a good choice. Use tissue paper or paper towels to protect the book pages from color transfer and staining from the flowers.
Open the book about 1/3rd of the way through, lay tissue on each of the pages.
Place flowers and slightly crush them flat. Remove the calyx if it is thick or pre-squish it with your fingers to help flatten. Once one page is full, close the book, and open it again about 2/3rds through. Repeat for another page-worth of petals, blossoms, leaves, or ferns. Repeat again. I prefer to only put 3-5 pages worth of flowers in a book at a time. Depending on the size of the book.
Once you’ve placed your blossoms, close the book, and set another large book on top of it. You can place flowers in multiple books and make a book stack out of it. As with the homemade flower press, the blossoms or petals should be dry and pressed within one week. If you forget them in a book, it shouldn’t hurt the book as long as the plant materials are sandwiched with tissue paper. I’ve forgotten plants in books for several years, and found preserved blossoms by accident that were still in good condition 5+ years after being picked and placed.
After about a week, remove the dried and flattened plant materials. You can discard, or reuse, the tissue. Place pressed flowers in a plastic craft bin, and add a moisture absorber until you are ready to craft with them. Remember you can press leaves and ferns too, autumn leaves are fun to preserve this way.
If your plant materials don’t yet seem dry, replace the tissue paper and re-press for another week.
Make sure the book doesn’t remain damp, and keep your book stack in a dry place with good air circulation whenever you are pressing flowers, or making sure the books are dry afterward. This avoids mold and mildew in the books, and in later batches of flattened leaves or ferns.
Making Art with Preserved Leaves and Flowers:
Pressed flowers are often used in framed art. Using various stems and plants, you can angle the flowers to create a permanent bouquet that can be displayed for many years.ย The dried flowers can be laid out, then glued down to a mat board or paper with regular glue or modge podge. Use a complimenting color paper for a mat backing and colorful framing accent, then frame within a normal picture frame or art frame. You can always source frames and mats from a thrift store.
The dedicated wooden flower press is one of the easiest ways to preserve slightly bulky flowers like daisies and roses. It also dries them out more reliably than a microwave press, I do not recommend using a microwave to dry plant materials. I do not recommend microwave flowers or microwaving plants either, that cooks the plant more than drying it out. The two above methods are more consistent and reliable for flat art works.
I’ve made book marks out of pressed flowers and wax paper, by laying out the flowers then hot pressing the wax paper over them to act as a laminate. You can also just use self-adhesive laminate sheets or pouches. Cut wax paper with cookie cutters, and lay your preserved plant materials in between to make interesting and unique Christmas ornaments like flowery angels, leafy stars, and fern trees too!
Back to You:
Many herbs have interesting textures and patterns in their leaves, even if they don’t have beautiful flowers to preserve in this fashion. What herbs might you consider pressing, alongside flowers, to create natural art?
If you’ve preserved plants, and leaves in this manner before, what tips or tricks do you have for people who are just learning how to use this method? Leave a comment!
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