DIY Ideas: pressing flowers

You can press flowers easily which helps to keep their lovely colour and shape for years to come. Once you have pressed them, they can be used in decoration for things such as homemade cards or pictures for a personalised display at home or gifts for friends. Imagine being able to save some of your most precious flowers from the garden to have indoors all year? The process is enjoyable as well. There are a few different ways to press flowers so here is the book pressing method. 

 

Make sure you pick fresh to press flowers 

You will need to make sure the flowers that you pick are dry without any moisture. Ideally, use flowers from the garden on a dry day but you can also use flowers bought from the shop. Many flowers can be pressed to perfection but some varieties press better than others. You could try Roses, Daisies and even Orchids. Flowers that have very thick petals can sometimes be problematic when pressing so thinner petals are best. 

 

To press flowers it is all in the preparation 

Remove any dead or diseased petals and leaves plus any part of the stem that you don't want to press. Stems can be pressed as well so make sure you have the length you require before you press them. Sometimes pressed flowers can look lovely with some foliage on as well. You could always press a variety and see what you like best. 

 

Press flowers the book method way 

• Put your perfect flowers in between two baking sheets placed inside a book which helps to absorb the moisture and make sure that the flowers have a gap between them all so none are overlapping. It is important to do that to stop them rotting or breaking off when it is time to open the book. 
• You will need to make sure the flowers are placed towards the back of the book to make the most of the weight in the book pages. Lay the book flat and place a few more heavy books on top. The weight helps to press them and as long as its an even weight you can use anything. 
• Now it is time to be patient and let the magic happen. Leave the flowers in the book for about two weeks and when you check to see if they are fully pressed open the book and gently feel the petals. They should feel similar to tissue paper, if not, close the book again. 
• When your pressed flowers are ready, you will have some beautiful flowers to design your own project with. Handle them carefully and ensure they do not come into contact with moisture and they will last a lifetime. 

You are sure to find plenty of colourful flowers in the garden centre to get pressing with, so come and see what you can discover.