I've always been in love with pressed flowers. So much so that I grew nasturtiums in the garden just so I could make pressed flower art creations with them.
While I sowed that one flower in particular for pressing, I learned that other flowers in my summer flower garden also work well as pressed flowers. And once they bloomed I got to work.
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SUPPLIES FOR PRESSED FLOWER ART
1. flowers (dry and press yourself or buy
pre-pressed flowers)
5.
pressed flower art frames
(optional)
6. transparent bookmarks (optional)
7. Large, heavy books or stacks of magazines
8. flower press kit (optional)
There are a number of methods used to make pressed flowers, but I chose to use the simplest tried and true method -- that of putting the flowers between wax paper and then gently placing the wax paper between the pages of large, heavy books. Then you wait. It doesn't get easier than that. Simple, yet very effective!
If you'd rather use a more traditional flower press you can try a flower press kit instead.
For a more detailed step-by-step pressed flower tutorial, read on.
HOW TO PRESS FLOWERS
1. If you're lucky enough to have a flower garden, head out and cut enough flowers for whatever pressed flower art project you have in mind. (You can also pick more than you need and dry them for another project!)
You want to pick your flowers on a dry, sunny day, in the late morning if
possible, to be sure all the dew has dried off. You want the flowers to be
as dry as possible before you place them into the wax paper so that they
don't get moldy.
Never pick them right after it rained or after watering them from above
(overhead watering).
(If you're not a gardener, or don't want to grow specific flowers for
pressing, you can always purchase
pre-dried flowers for crafting.)
2. Depending on the look you're going for, you might want to remove stems and/or leaves before drying. I generally remove them, unless the flower with stem and/or leaves left intact works better in my arrangement. Sometimes, however, you might just want a flower head and nothing else. It's up to you.
4. Place your flowers on top of the wax paper, leaving enough room between them so that they're not touching each other.
Depending on their shape and petals, some flowers will look better dried if you place them face down in the book (like nasturtium as seen above), versus some that look better if you place them face up. And for others it might not matter quite so much (lavender, thyme, gomphrena).
5. Gently close the book or magazine.
If using a large, heavy book you're good to go. If using a stack of
magazines or a less heavy book, you'll need to either add more books
or add more magazines for sufficient pressure. While my vintage book was
pretty thick and heavy, I did add another large vintage book on top for
good measure.
I checked on the flowers about once a week, and since they weren't all
placed into the books at the same time, I waited until I believed they
were all sufficiently pressed and dried before attempting to use them in
my project. It took about two weeks until all the flowers were
sufficiently dried and ready for crafting.
HOW TO CREATE PRESSED FLOWER ART
Assuming you're going to use some type of frame to display your pressed flower art, you'll need to keep the size and shape of the frame in mind when planning your design. I knew I wanted to fill one of the more "traditional" pressed flower frames, as well as a less traditional, ornate gilded frame.
The more traditional frame ended up being a double glass pane frame, seen above, that I got at Goodwill for $1.99. This type of frame is perfect for pressed flower art!
The second frame for my pressed flower art is a gold arched frame with an embellishment on top that I got at T.J. Maxx. You can get similar frames on Amazon:
5x7 Ornate Gold Arched Picture Frame
Vintage 5x7 Picture Frame with Flowers
Gold 5x7 Ex Voto Sacred Heart Picture Frame
MEASURE TWICE, CUT ONCE
1. Before actually gluing your pressed flowers onto whatever paper you'll be using, you need to create a prototype, or draft. That way you'll be sure to end up with pressed flower art that fits well within your frame's parameters.
To achieve this, you'll need to place the glass from your frame onto the
paper and trace around it so that you end up with a
paper template which gives you the exact size within which you have to
work. (If you'll be using a mat - which I did not - you'll need to take
that into consideration when planning out the design's size as well.)
I traced the glass and ended up with a piece of paper that was exactly the size of the inside of my double glass pane frame. Using that as a guide, I created a "draft," of the pressed flower art I hoped to achieve as seen above.
While you're certainly not locked into using that exact design, it definitely gives you an idea as to what your final pressed flower art will look like and how large the design can be.
2. Now you're ready to put it all together. Using a thin paint brush (I use a tiny paint-by-number paint brush), apply Mod Podge onto the back of each flower, then arrange them in their correct place on your paper.
3. Let the Mod Podge fully dry and then place your finished pressed flower art into the frame.
Here's the finished press flower design inside my double glass wood frame, on the primary bedroom mantel along with a botanical in a rustic white frame and a peony painting framed by a 3-d embellished tin ceiling tile.
For this frame I chose a plain piece of card stock as the background.
Conversely, I created my pressed flower art in the gold frame on top of some colorful floral scrapbook paper. Some of the flowers on the scrapbook paper can even pass as pressed flowers! Can you guess which ones?
I must admit that my favorite pressed flower art between the two is this one.
While I'll be keeping this out for the summer, I can see it as fall decor as well -- the colors speak fall to me!
If creating full-fledged pressed flower art in a frame isn't for you,
perhaps you could try something a bit less daunting, like - wait for it - a
pressed flower bookmark?
There are many designs you can create when designing pressed flower art. Whether it's a free form design, or a specific image, the way you go about it is pretty much the same. It all comes down to having an idea, creating the image, gluing it all down and framing it.
And whether you've grown your own flowers or bought some pre-pressed, no one's going to judge you. Whatever works and makes your creative spirit happy!
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