How to get Pressed Flowers Using a Book

Pressed flowers are more than a passing hobby; it is an art, and a delightful one. You don’t need to have a special artistic streak to do it either; the flowers alone will do the job. All you need to know is how to get started and you will be pressing flowers for years to come, surprising loved ones with beautiful, hand-made gifts.

Step 1: Preparing the Flowers

You can either buy fresh flower or pluck an appropriate one from a garden. If you have a particular flower you want to press in mind, it is best to pluck it early in the morning when the dew of the night has dried. Also, make sure you pluck a flower that is not yet fully bloomed. If you want the result to be really snazzy, pick out a flower with vibrant colors. The flower you select should preferably be a domestic flower, not the wild variety that have a smaller lifetime once plucked, making their pressing yield not a very good result.

Flowers will press best when they are free from moisture and are fresh. If you are not planning to press them immediately upon picking, make sure you condition them well so they retain their freshness and color. Before attempting to press the flower, you should consider how you want it to look when pressed. Try to avoid overlapping its parts unless you are going for a particular look. The leaves should be left flattened out.

Step 2: Pressing the Flower

Take two plain sheets of paper and place the flower between them. Grab an appropriate book, place the flower in it and weigh the book down. However, keep in mind that flowers will dry best if a little air is permitted to reach them. So do not over-weigh the book down.

The best books include heavy encyclopedias or telephone books. Let the flower sit in the book for a couple of weeks.

Step 3: Microwave Drying

Another way to quicken the process is by putting the paper with the flower and the book in a microwave and give it short bursts of heat. Keep checking to see when it will be done. When you feel it is appropriately heated and dried, remove it carefully from the book and place it another book to finish.

Step 4: Pealing out the Flower and Using it in Crafts

After the two weeks are over, open the book gently and peel out the flower carefully. You can then use an artistic touch to frame the flower to hang in a room, a book cover or a bookmark, a smaller photo frame, cards, or anything else you had in mind.

Flowers can be preserved for months and years if the process is done as detailed. You have to handle the pressed flower very delicately since it is prone to disintegrate in your fingers if you put too much pressure on it.