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Pressed Flowers - Two methods for creating your
own natural embellishments
Pressed flowers can be beautiful natural decorations for
notecards, greeting cards,
scrapbook pages and other crafts. Yes, you can buy a
commercial flower press, if you plan to get
into pressed flowers in a big way. For the rest of us who want to press
flowers occasionally, here are a couple of "home-made" methods.
Traditional Pressed Flowers
Using common blotting paper, newspaper and heavy books, you
can
press all but the most bulky flowers.
- Pick several delicate flowers at the peak of
their bloom, as well as some leaves.
- Lay a piece of blotting paper on top of several
sheets of newspaper on cookie sheet. (For very succulent flowers, use
more newspaper to absorb the moisture).
- Place the flowers and leaves on the blotting
paper without overlapping them.
- Cover them with another sheet of blotting paper
and several more sheets of newspaper.
- Place heavy books, phone books, or a bowling
ball on top.
- Let sit for 3-4 weeks in a cool, dry place.
Check the flowers every few days for the first week, and once a week
after that. Using tweezers or a craft knife, carefully peel the flowers
from the blotting paper and reposition them to prevent them from
adhering. Replace the newspapers at the same time.
- After four weeks, the flowers should be stiff
and dry and the paper should feel dry. If not, leave them for another
week.
Microwave Pressed Flowers
This is more like it: fast and easy. Just keep the microwave
power on medium or low to avoid toasting your blossoms.
- Lay a piece of blotting paper over
3-4 paper towels on a glass pie plate, microwavable dinner
plate, or the glass turntable.
- Place the flowers and leaves on the blotting
paper without overlapping them.
- Cover them with another sheet of blotting paper
and several more sheets of paper towels. Place another glass
pie plate, or a flat microwavable pate, on top.
- Heat on medium (or medium-low for dark flowers)
for 3 to 4 minutes. Check at 1-minute intervals to strighten any
flowers or leaves and check for dryness. The flowers are done
when they feel stiff and the paper towels feel slightly damp. Leave
them in the microwave for a few minutes with the power off to finish
the drying process.
Now, your dried, pressed flowers are ready to embellish your geeting
and
note cards, scrapbook pages, or other crafts. Use tweezers to handle
and position them on your surface. When you like your arrangement, glue
them down with white glue using a small paintbrush, being sure to glue
all edges. Let them dry for a day, pressed under a piece of
wax paper and a
heavy book to prevent curling. You can protect your final
work with a spray of clear polyurethane, a coat of decoupage medium, or
laminating.
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