This traditional, vintage craft is so easy, fun and rewarding. Children will love the process of selecting flowers to press and then eagerly wait for the magical moment when they can peek inside and see the results..... waiting can be hard!!
Then you have a beautiful end product to go on and create crafts with, the activity the keeps on giving.
Start by finding flowers to press . Flowers that work best are those with single layer petals, for example Pansies and Violas. Daisies also work well and are easy to find.Also Cosmos and Delphinium and some flat fine ferns for greenery.
Pick your flowers in the morning.
I use a book but you can also use a flower press. If you use a book choose a large book and be aware that it may be stained or damaged by this process. Although I always use a paper insert to avoid any damage to the book pages.
Cut a sheet of baking paper that will create a fold over 'file' the same size as the book pages.
crease the backing paper and lay into the book as if you were inserting two pages .See image below.
Arrange your flowers spaced apart to allow a little room for movement when you close the book. I would also recommend cutting off the stems. As you can see here I also tried Lavender which worked will.
When your flowers are in place carefully fold the top layer of baking paper and press gently folding the book over in place at the same time. I used some elastic bands to hold the book closed too -you could use string or ribbon to secure.
The baking paper will not stick to the flowers and will allow them to come away from the paper easily . It also protects the book.
I also tried with this lovely little press. These make a lovely gift. But if you dont have one a book will do the same job.
It is hard but very important to not peek and to leave the flowers undisturbed for as long as possible. I would suggest a minimum of 2 weeks but even more if you can manage it!
If you do use a book make sure you put as many heavy booked and magazines on the top to really weigh it down.
When the time comes to reveal the flowers, gently open the book and see your beautiful pressed and flattened blooms.
Here are a few examples of what you can do with them. Greetings Cards, Bookmarks, Artworks.
The process of pressing the flowers is fun and rewarding but it is also lovely to turn them into something afterwards. I hope you have fun and enjoy doing this activity.
I just used a PVA glue to stick the flowers down. Just use tweezers to handle as the flowers are very delicate and a paintbrush to gently apply a little glue to the underside of the petals -they do not need very much.