Pressing Flowers for Beginners: How to Press Flowers 4 Ways (Pros and Cons)

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Come acquire how to create the most beautiful , colorful , long - permanent preserved flower ! This founder ’s template will search how to urge flowers four different ways – in abook , traditional wood printing press , microwave press , or using an iron – along with honest pro and yardbird of each method based on my experience pressing flower for many age .

We ’ll also talk about the best case of flowers to use , how to store them , and other tips to get the best upshot potential . Then you could use your collection of dry out flowers for originative trade projects , framed art , scrapbooking , and more . I especially love to makepressed flower candle lanterns(they’re super sweet DIY gift ! ) anddried bloom pumpkinsin the fall .

Pressed and dried flowers all arranged on card stock after being dried in a flower press.

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Four pressed flower candle holder lanterns are sitting atop an outdoor table. Each one has a votive candle inside that is lit. Two of the lanterns have a wire handle affixed to the top.

Choosing the Best Flowers to Press

Flowers that are naturallythin , flatand have a individual course of petals are the easiest to crusade . On the other manus , thick fluffy flowers with several layers of petals run to be more tricky ( if not impossible ) – specially those with gravid dim center like zinnia or marigolds .

Choose flowers that arefully opened and blemish - free . The morefreshand young the blooms are , the better they retain their people of colour ! Pick flowers while it ’s still cool in the morning to use cursorily thereafter . Here is a list of some of the best flowers to crusade :

I also love pressing aboriginal wild flower like clarkia , baby blue eyes , fuchsia and Indian blanket . I ’ve had great outcome with fern , colourful fall leaves , African blue St. Basil , lemon vervain , tulsi , and other herb . Have fun experimenting!Art is all about trial and error .

A wicker basket full of a variety of flowers is held in front of a flowering salvia plant.

How to Press Flowers: Tips for Success

Whether you ’re pressing peak in a book , wooden press , microwave or with an iron – follow these crown for succeeder ! ( See specific instructions for each method acting to follow . )

Pressing Flowers in a Book

It ’s very dim-witted to press flowers between the pages of a large book – and you likely have everything you need already at home ! However , keep in brain that book - bid peak take several weeks to dry and are at a higher risk of browning ( recede colouring material ) or mold compare to other methods .

How To:

Using a Traditional Wooden Press

Dry evenmore flowers with easeby using a equipment that ’s made for pressing flower – likemy favorite large wooden press ! With adjustable clamps and specialised wicking composition , using a classic flower press can yieldbetter resultsthan the book of account method acting since you’re able to constrict the flowers more tightly , eliminating zephyr and moisture that can have color loss or mold . you’re able to also create your own DIY wooden mechanical press with clamps and plywood or other wood .

Traditional passive presses slow ironic flowers over a couple of calendar week , so this choice still call for some patience . Even so , this ismy prefer methodof them all ! I sleep with that I can charge up a ton of flowers at once , and then set it and block it – especially when I ’m in no rush . I also find I have the most success with thewidest rangeof prime character in my Mrs. Henry Wood press .

Microwave Flower Press

Toinstantlypress bloom , view using a modern microwave pressure . This convenient Microfleur kitwill dry flowers , leaves , herb or other botanicals from start - to - finish in just a few minute . It also offersexcellentcolor retentivity , get it an ideal choice for frame adjure flower long - term . The theory is : the quicker they dry , the better the color . However , it ’s easy toaccidentally burnflowers in the microwave oven too .

I love using our microwave imperativeness when I want fast final result ( hellooo impromptu craft Nox ! ) but also find it can be a shade more finical and limited for the types of flowers I usually grow . For representative , I find that calendula and poppy hold their gloss perfectly while my lighter - colored cosmos be given to brown no matter how thrifty I am . You ’ll count on out what works intimately with a niggling test and error !

Pressing Flowers with an Iron

Last but not least , you may also press flowers with a clothes iron . Like the microwave , ironing heyday isquick and easy(they contract at once ) but some may need to proceed to dry out for a span days after for the expert event . I ’ve found press especially effective for single flower petal or extra - sparse , flat flowers with near no nerve center body .

However , this method is the most likely tobrown or burnyour botanical if you are n’t careful . Leafy commons are especially prostrate to turning brown under the heat of an Fe . Iron - press does n’t dry out the flowers as equally as other method , which can conduct to a splotchy show . The sheepskin paper also tend to cause crinkle .

What’s the best way to press flowers?

After experiment with all four methods , I can confidently say that using atraditional wooden pressproduces the good overall results . It offers superior color retention , and allows you to dry the wide sort of flowers with great success ( and many of them at once ) . If you do n’t want to invest in a proper press , using a ledger is a full choice .

However , it does take time to passively dry bloom , so using a microwave press is an excellent option if you wantfast resultsalong with great color retentivity , and do n’t mind the learning curved shape or tweaking that may be required . I would only recommend the iron method acting if you want to cursorily dry a few very thin , flavourless flowers or petals .

How to Store Pressed Flowers

memory board pressed peak in a fairly cool , ironical , darklocation for maximum colour retention and ledge - life . Once fully wry , they should n’t wedge together so they can touch or pile , though keep in creative thinker they can be quite fragile .

I commonly salt away mine in a orotund monotonic glass baking dish with a lid , layered between pieces of parchment paper for easy classification and handling . Sometimes I just leave them in the press if I ’m not planning to use it for a while ! If you have a big aggregation of pressed flowers , consider using this neatwooden art storage boxwith small-scale drawers for awful organization .

Ways to Use Pressed Flowers

Now , have fun playing with your save blooms ! Here ’s a list of pressed flower craft idea , though I ’m sure there are gross ton of other creative way to use them too .

TIP : If they fall apart after drying , you could always use the single petal instead of full flower , or reassemble them directly on your craft labor .

And that concludes this lesson.

Well friends , I hope you have just as much merriment preserving and playing with flowers as I do . If you give it a try or incur this post to be helpful , pleaseleave a reviewbelow- and find free to ask any questions too ! Now go get knavish . I ca n’t hold back to see what you come up with !

How to Press Flowers 4 Ways

Equipment

Ingredients

Instructions

Two white pumpkins of varying size sit amongst a bed on lantana. Each pumpkin has pressed flowers affixed to it in a pattern.

Tweezers are being used to arrange a variety of botanicals on hard card stock.

A variety of fresh flowers and herbs are arranged on sections of card stock and cardboard that will be used in a wood press.

A blank book is open with a number of pressed flowers within it.

Dried leaves are flatted in between pages of a large book. A number of dried leaves are surrounding the book.

Layers of blooms are stacked atop on another separated by paper and cardboard layers.

A wood press is clamped down with a number of layers of paper and cardboard inside.

A microwave flower press is being held next to a wicker basket of flowers.

Fresh blooms are arranged on a board while a wicker basket with more blooms sits nearby.

A microwave flower press with a few large flowers sandwiched in the middle.

Tweezers are holding a dried calendula bloom. Beyond are a variety of dried and fresh botanicals.

Fresh flowers and single petals sit atop a piece of parchment paper on an ironing board.

An iron is being used on top of two pieced of parchment paper with botanicals sandwiched in between the layers.

Dried and flattened botanicals are arranged on a piece of parchment paper.

Fern leaves are arranged on a a section of a wood flower press.

A hand is holding a section of parchment paper which contains many pressed flower blooms. A glass storage container is nearby with pressed fern leaves, a roll of parchment paper, and a wicker basket of fresh cosmos flowers all surround the wooden flower press.