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Dried out, pressed and preserved flowers are having a moment right now, and they look gorgeous in vases, or pressed and preserved inside glass frames. However, there’s a few tips and tricks to getting pressed and preserved flowers right.
How to press flowers
All you need to do to press flowers is pick some blooms, then pop them between two sheets of paper and into either a flower press, or between the pages of a very heavy book. Blotting paper, layers of tissue paper or printing paper all work fine. Leave flowers for one to three weeks until they are totally flat and dry – et voila! Beautiful pressed flowers.
Top tips for pressing flowers
1. You can buy a flower press, but all you really need is a heavy book and some paper.
2. You may need to pop a few heavy books on top of the book the flower is in.
3. Remember that flowers can leak moisture and colour into the pages of book, so don’t sacrifice a book you love.
4. Pick your flowers late morning to afternoon when the morning dew has dried.
5. Pick flowers at their peak bloom, or just before, for the best colour and shape.
6. Flowers with flat petal layers are easiest to press because the petals are thin and have less moisture.
7. When pressing flowers with thick blooms or petals, change the paper every week to reduce the amount of moisture (and risk of mold) and use a heavy book or strong press to flatten completely.
8. Try pressing leaves from herbs or fragrant flowers, such as lavender, as they are likely to retain some of their fragrance, even dried out.
9. Press flowers directly after picking them to retain the best colour and shape.
10. Small, thin flowers may only take a week to press and dry, while large and thick flowers can take up to three weeks.
11. You may need to hand small, think flowers with tweezers once dried, as thy can be very fragile.
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5 different ways to dry fresh flowers
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