How To Press Flowers Perfectly | Homesteading Skills

Did you know there’s more than one way to press flowers? If you have a flower garden and would love to see your beauties all the time, why not preserve them by pressing? I’ve listed three ways to perfectly press flowers and I can’t wait for you to try all of them!

Know How To Press Flowers For Your Arts And Crafts

From decorating your scrapbook to designing wedding invitations, pressed flowers the way to go to add an extra special touch to any DIY project. Still waiting weeks for your flowers to dry out in an old book? Our 3 easy tutorials are sure to “leaf” you inspired to create! Now let’s get ready perfectly press some petals!

Tips To Press Flowers Effectively

• Choose flowers that are naturally flat like daisies, pansies, violas, and miniature daffodils.
• Choose perfect flowers with no holes or discoloration – we only want the best!
• Pressed flowers are extremely fragile.  Handle with care!
• Use makeup oil blotting paper to help soak up moisture and insert a sheet on top of your flowers before you press to get the best results.
• Let your flowers have their space! When laying out flowers make sure they are not overlapping each other in the press, or else you will get one glob of petals.

Now Let’s Get Started!

Want to craft something cute in a flash? This is the method for you! In only minutes, you have some beautiful pressed flowers that are craft ready when you are!

Supplies needed:

• Iron
• Ironing board
• Paper sheets
• fresh flowers and leaves

Step 1:

Lay a sheet of paper down on your ironing board. Place flowers on top and cover with another sheet of paper. Lay heavy hardcover book on top. Try not to slide the book as this may damage the flowers. Push down on the book and wait for 2-3-minutes.

Step 2:

Remove book, but keep flowers in paper. Take out iron and remove any water if it’s a steamer kind. Set the iron to the lowest heat setting (or dry, if your iron has it). Gone are the old days of waiting days for pressed flowers to dry. Irons turn fresh flowers into pressed flowers within minutes! Place iron down on paper and press. Hold for 10 seconds and remove, and repeat this process across the sheet. Do NOT drag across like you do on clothing, this will damage both your flowers and your paper. Remove flowers slowly to prevent tearing and set aside on another clean sheet of paper.

And that’s it!

Did you know some flowers are EDIBLE? We’ve got a list of ones you can eat or use as a garnish:http://t.co/CLDcDxYQ6W pic.twitter.com/AQpLsLr9NU

— Homesteading (@HomesteadingUSA) April 30, 2015

Pressing Flowers With A Flower Press

Have some more time to invest in creating perfectly flat flowers? Try a flower press – easy to make and use. Flowers are ready to be used after 24 hours in the press.

Supplies:

• 2 7” x 7” wood squares
• Scrap cardboard
• 4 screws, washers, wing nuts
• Sheets of paper or blotting paper
• Fresh flowers and leaves
• Power drill
• 5/32” drill bits

Step 1:

First, cut or purchase two identical pieces of wood, and measure about 1” in from the edge of your wood corners with a pencil

Step 2:

Drill over your pencil marks through both boards at about 1″ in from the corner on all four sides. Place washers on the bolts and slide the bolts up through the bottoms of both squares. Make sure to add wingnuts on top to easily tighten and loosen your press.

Step 3:

Take some scrap cardboard that is roughly the same size as your press. Trim off corners of cardboard so they do not interfere with the bolts of your flower press.

Step 4:

Take your flowers and lay them out how you like on plain paper. Insert your flowers between your cardboard sheets and use the wingnuts to tighten and press. After 24 hours, you will have perfectly pressed flowers!

Pressed Flowers With Wax Paper

This next method of pressing flowers is perfect for lightweight flowers. Once completed, you will have a sheet of translucent flowers that add rustic dimension to any craft project.

Supplies:

• Iron
• Ironing board
• Wax paper sheets
• Paper towels
• Small fresh flowers and leaves (small daisies or orchids)

Step 1:

The steps for this process is similar to pressing flowers with an iron, just replace the paper with two sheets of wax paper sandwiching your flowers.

Step 2:

Take some paper towels and lay on top of your wax paper, then press down with your iron for 10 seconds at a time.  In only a few minutes you will have a sealed translucent sheet filled with flowers!

Did you know you can also press flowers in a microwave? See how in this video:

Wasn’t pressing flowers easy enough? I know it can be intimidating at first but after knowing all the methods and options, it gets easy. I’m sure you’ll want to try making some yourself.

What was your favorite method to press flowers? Let me know below in the comments!

Do you know your flowers? Take this fun quiz to find out!

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This post was originally published in September 2016 and has been updated for quality and relevancy.