by Cheryl Wetzker
Let me start by saying I love flowers!
My mom is a floral designer and when I
was a kid, she would take me along to go
on "hunts" for flowers to dry. She would
hang them upside down and then use them
in her arrangements. I remember being
horribly disappointed when a cute little
daisy just didn't look pretty anymore
after drying that way. At the time, I
saw no solution to my disappointment. My
Mom showed me which flowers dried nicely
and we stuck to those. Fast forward
about 10 years. I took a single class
about how to press flowers. I was
immediately hooked! "This is *the
answer* to keeping the delicate flowers
pretty!" And now, I would love to share
the answer with you.
I personally have 2 methods I use often
for pressing flowers. The first is a
simple phone book. You've all done this,
stuck a cute little flower in the pages
of a book... This method works well for
flowers that are fairly flat to begin
with. Examples of flowers that work
well: pansies, english daisies, leaves,
hydrangea, larkspur, even petunias. If
you're not sure, give it a try. Trial
and error is a great way to learn. The
best time of day to pick flowers for
pressing is in the afternoon. If you
pick them in the morning, they often
still have dew on them, and any extra
moisture makes the flowers more prone to
turning brown. Leave at least 10-15
pages between each grouping of flowers
to be pressed. When the book is full,
put a hardcover book or piece of wood on
top and add some weight. I like to use
old 2 liter bottles refilled with water.
This is a great way to press a few
flowers for a hobby. These thin flowers
usually don't take more than a week or
two to dry. (quick tip: some people
recommend using paper towels, I
recommend NOT, because the flowers pick
up the designs in the paper towel)
What I found, was that I was filling up
all my phone books (yes that is plural I
have accumulated probably about 10 phone
books, some preserve my already dried
flowers and the rest keep drying more).
I needed something that had more
capability. So, I found my second method
for pressing flowers: a flower press. I
had my dear husband help me make one
actually. We bought some wood and cut 2
pieces the same size (I recommend about
12"x15"). We then drilled holes in all 4
corners and put long bolts through them
with wing nuts on the top. So the idea
is there is a layer of wood, then I
layer newspaper and my flowers, then
more newspaper, more flowers etc, then
put on the top layer of wood and smoosh
it all by tightening the wing nuts in
the corners. This has worked really well
for me. It can also handle flowers that
are a bit more bulky, I've done black
eyed susans, and even a rose or two.
Thicker flowers can sometimes take up to
a month to be completely dry. They
actually turn out better when you take
the petals off, dry them separately then
glue it back together when it is all
dry. Give it a try and see what works
for you.
There are a lot of people out there who
microwave their flowers in a press to
dry them faster. I admit to trying at
this and failing. I tried to press them
in a book and ended up with very brown
flowers. You can actually buy a press
designed for the microwave. So, the
moral of this story is that if you are
going to try microwaving flowers, get
the microwave press. (Its called a
microfleur if you need one, I may get
one eventually, but for now I go on
using the other methods).
So that is the short version of how to
press flowers. After my short class, I
found lots of flowers to press and went
crazy with it. Then I had lots of
pressed flowers, and nothing to do with
them. That got me started in my
business, so beware of the
possibilities. I started out by
making greeting cards with my pressed
flowers. You can also make arrangements
and frame them. It is a very rewarding
process. These flowers are so fragile,
and without preservation their lifespan
is so short. I love pressing my flowers
and having these beautiful pieces of
nature preserved for years!
http://www.designs-in-floral.com
http://www.designsinfloral.etsy.com
Cheryl is a pressed flower artist living
in the suburbs of Chicago. She does
framed artwork, greeting cards,
bookmarks, journals, boxes, pendants and
anything else she can possibly think of
to put her plethora of pressed flowers
on.