As spring flowers emerge from their swollen buds, it’s tempting to try to hold on to their beauty. The process of pressing flowers to preserve delicate blossoms (and often the fond memories that go with them) has been carried out since Victorian times. During recent generations people simply used a heavy book and pressed a special flower close to the binding. Today, simple flower presses enable us to preserve hundreds of flowers to use for greeting cards, framed flowers, and memory books:
1. After the morning dew has dried, collect flowers on a tray in a single layer. Choose flawless flowers and leaves that are thin enough that they will be able to dry completely.
2. Place the flowers on an absorbent paper (blotter or construction) so that they are not touching each other—and will not touch when they are pressed onto the page.
3. Place another paper on top of the flowers; cover it with a piece of cardboard cut to size; and press.
4. Stack layers of these sandwiched flowers between two pieces of smooth thin wood that is the same size as the paper, and clamp together with straps or woodworker’s clamps.
5. Leave the flowers in the press for one month.
6. Use a toothpick dipped in white glue to carefully glue the flower to the card or scrapbook, spreading the glue sparingly.
7. Press the flower into position gently with your finger; cover it with wax paper; and place the card under a book, or close the flower into the scrap book, to keep the card from curling while the glue dries.
When my daughter returned home from the prom last week, we placed her corsage flowers in the press, preserving the blossoms, and the evening's magic.
(Read, "Constructing a Flower Press" to build a simple, inexpensive press.)
(Read, "Constructing a Flower Press" to build a simple, inexpensive press.)
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