The Art of Pressed Flowers and Leaves: Contemporary techniques & designs

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Forget-me-nots, dog violets, snow drops, snowflakes, tete-a-tete dwarf daffodils, crocuses, primula, snake’s head fritillaries, bluebells Some people recommend pressing flowers for only 2 – 3 weeks, but we don’t find this to be long enough. We definitely recommend leaving your flowers in the book for 4 – 6 weeks to make sure that they’re completely dried out.

The florists behind JamJar Flowers share their modern take on the lost art of pressing flowers'. Gardens Illustrated Over the years, I’ve learned some flowers were born to be pressed, and some weren’t. I might have scorched a flower or two in my ambitious attempts to press them. Whoops!The Modern Flower Press is a storybook full of entertaining facts, myths and legends about flowers. Melissa and Amy explain all aspects of the history of pressing flowers, from its origins to the present day. They show you how to choose the right flowers for pressing, how to prepare and press them, and share ideas for projects and artworks to display them in all their perfectly preserved glory. From their own small and large-scale commissions to lovely ideas that you can make at home by following their clear, full-colour illustrated step-by-step instructions, there are designs here to make best use of your favourite garden or wild flowers. Step 2 — Tighten the press. If you are using straps, try to tighten them as evenly as possible. If you have a press with bolts and wing nuts, screw them down tightly until the press lies flat.

Step 3— Leave the flower in the book for two or three weeks to make sure it dries completely. If you try to remove it but realize it still isn’t dry, change out the paper and let it sit for a few days longer. For more inspiration, see the company's new book, The Modern Flower Press' Country Homes & Interiors When shopping for flower presses, be sure to consider who you’re buying it for and the difficulty level that they can handle. If you’re buying for an adult you can get a flower press kit that’s more complex to use but yields better results.

Recommendations

Try and minimise the amount the petals touch each other. At Precious Petals we take them apart and press each petal individually; then, when we create pictures we remake the flower again. This minimises the moisture that can be trapped in the flower as it’s being pressed.

Put them somewhere lovely and warm. Somewhere like an airing cupboard or nice, sunny conservatory is ideal. To do this, place your fresh blooms between 2 sheets of parchment paper in the microwave and place a heavy microwave safe dish on top. Microwave on medium power for 90 seconds.

What to do:

Step 2 — Next, place the paper and flowers directly into the microwave and flatten them with your pressing object on top (such as a microwavable plate, dish, ceramic tile, etc.). If you have a microwave press, make sure your flowers are layered between paper and cardboard—as you would in a normal press. The faster methods sort of work, but the flowers don’t get fully dried and they end up much more fragile. Catherine’s top tip:"Some people make a really massive mistake of thinking they have to push loads of weight down on the flowers to make it press well, but that’s not the case – in fact, you can really damage the flowers doing that. Just put enough gentle pressure to flatten the petals without squashing them. Placing a pile of books on top is lovely but you don’t need to sit on the pile of books." Designing the flowers Some other flowers that work well for pressing are violets, baby’s breath, lilies, hydrangeas, Queen Anne’s lace, buttercups, lavender, cosmos, pansies, daisies, and larkspur (aka delphinium). You can also dry small herb stems or fern leaves. If you’re someone who has access to flowers in your garden or on your balcony or window sill, learning to press them not only brings nature indoors but doubles up as a mindful hobby.

Once you’ve placed your flowers on the kitchen roll, put a few more layers of kitchen roll on top and close the book,” she added. This is a really good method for pressing flowers, but it requires either buying a press or some woodworking know-how to put one together. If you’re only pressing a few flowers at a time, the book method is much easier. Press flowers in the microwave: Spring is just around the corner and already some of the early bloomers have been peeking their floral heads out, teasing us with the promise of warmer days. While there’s nothing better than filling a vase with stems you’ve snipped from the garden or foraged on a walk, this year we are loving the idea of preserving those delicate finds for even longer. Maker and blogger and long time flower presser Claire Holland shares her passion for the art along with knowledge and tips on how to prepare and then press your flowers for the best results… It’s best to press a variety of flowers just in case. Out of all of the flowers we pressed, we only had one white lily type of wildflower turn brown. The rest of our flowers kept their beautiful colours, but it would have been disappointing if that was the only flower we tried! How long to press flowers? If you’re a beginner or buying it for a child, then make sure you get a flower press kit that is designed to be easy to use and very approachable for someone who has never done this before. Failure to get the right difficulty level can turn out to be a very boring experience or a very difficult one, depending on where you missed the mark. ValueWhether you’re a beginner looking to learn more about flower pressing or a seasoned vet who is looking for inspiration and advanced topics, this book has some value for you. Step 3 — Leave the flowers for three to four weeks, changing the paper a few times during that period to prevent browning. Once dried completely, you can remove the flowers from the press. Transform fresh blooms into beautifully pressed flowers by following our simple step by step tutorial. It’s SO EASY to learn how to press flowers, though it does take a bit of time and patience. Using a flower press is best when you have a large number of flowers. It is also the ideal method for preserving the flowers’ color. These presses are very easy to DIY if you have two boards, pieces of cardboard, paper, and a way to tighten it—for example, by using straps or fashioning it with bolts and wing nuts. On the other hand, you could simply buy one as well.