Are you looking for a fun DIY project this fall? This is the time of year when we start to spend more time indoors and look for ways to harness our creativity to create fun crafts we can share with others. One fun craft project is using pressed flowers for art, cards, ornaments and more! Our gardens have been full of beautiful flowers this year, and this is a great way to repurpose and preserve some of them!

It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3!

To press flowers, you will need:

1. A big book
2. Your favorite flowers
3. Wax paper

Step One:

The first thing you will do is pick your best-looking flowers from your garden. You can keep the stems as short or as long as you’d like. These are the flowers that we will press and use for cards and other projects. When picking which flowers to use make sure that they are very fresh. It’s best to choose flowers that are still in bud or freshly bloomed and pick them first thing in the morning, so that they are happy and well-watered by the morning dew, but not dried out by the midday sun.

Here are some ideas of flowers that are perfect for pressing:

• Pansies
• Violas
• Alyssum
• Santa Barbara Daisies
• Lavender
• Dusty Miller Leaves
• Dianthus
• Single Roses
• Salvias
• Bell Flowers
• Passion Flowers
• Baby’s Breath
• Hydrangeas
• Trumpet Flowers

Prep the flowers by cutting the stems at an angle and hold the stems under water for a few seconds to help them absorb some water. Then you will want to remove any low leaves. If the flowers are on the thicker side, you can split them up. Usually irises and roses need to be split down the middle. Flatter faced flowers usually press a little simpler.

Step Two:

Take a large, heavy book such as a dictionary or textbook, and open it up. Be mindful that the moisture from the flowers can warp the pages a bit, so don’t choose your favorite or most expensive book! Open the book and then take some wax paper and put it down on one side of page. Next take your flowers and arrange them on the wax paper so that they are not touching. Be careful that your flowers do not overlap as their moisture would negatively affect the other buds. Then take another piece of wax or parchment paper and put it on top of the flowers and close the book.

If you have more flowers to press you can choose another part of the book and repeat the process. Just be careful that you do not move the flowers once they are set! Close the book and put another heavy book or brick on top of it, and then…. we wait!

Step Three:

Waiting is always the hardest part, isn’t it?? You can check on the flowers and see if you need to replace the top wax sheet to help remove some of the moisture. After 2-3 weeks the flowers should be completely dry, and you are ready to remove them! To remove the flowers, use a pair of tweezers, or if you’re brave your fingers, and take the delicate flower off of the wax paper.

Now that you’ve successfully pressed your flowers you can use them however you’d like! They can be saved for a special occasion, or collected as a memento, or used to create fun crafts and cards. The options are endless! If you need some more ideas on which flowers to use, we are happy to help. Stop on by the nursery and we would love to chat!