How to Press Flowers
Pressing flowers provides a way of both preserving and arranging flowers for display. While there are elaborate and expensive flower presses available, the process can be done using common household items, in many cases. This provides a fun and easy way to preserve precious memories or create beautiful decorations and art materials.
Things You Will Need:
- Flowers
- Newspaper
- Tissue paper or blotting paper
- A large book such as a dictionary or phone book
- A heavy weight such as a brick or large cast iron pan
- Lay out flowers on a clean open surface.
- Prepare flowers for pressing by removing any unwanted leaves, petals or flowers. For flowers with round, thick petal arrangements, press the bulb of the flower lightly between your thumb and index finger to compress and spread it. This will provide better results after pressing.
- Open the book near the middle of the pages.
- Lay a sheet of newspaper on each exposed page.
- Lay a sheet of tissue paper or blotting paper on top of each sheet of newspaper.
- Arrange the flowers on the blotting paper. Care should be taken not to overlap any leaves or petals. The flowers should not hang over the edge of the paper or be folded into the inner-seam of the book. If you need more room for flowers, open the book in another location close to the middle and repeat steps 4 through 6.
- Close the book.
- Place a heavy weight on top of the book and place the book on a level surface. A brick or large cast iron pan is ideal as it places the weight across the entire surface of the book.
- Wait 72 hours before checking the flowers. If the flowers are not dry, carefully close the book and place the weight back on top of it. Check daily until the flowers are adequately pressed and dry.