Press Flowers Workshop
How to Press Flowers and Preserve Your Favourite Blooms
Pressed flowers are a simple way to preserve a moment in time.
By pressing flowers, you can save a thoughtful bouquet from a loved one or commemorate flowers from a special event.
Plus, it's an easy way to keep the beauty of spring and summer blooms alive (almost) forever.
Unlike a bouquet of dried flowers, pressed flowers are great for framing and displaying as art, giving as a sentimental gift, or dressing up handwritten cards and letters.
Selecting Flowers for Pressing
If you're pressing flowers from a bouquet, it's best to start as soon as possible; don't wait until the day before you'll have to throw the arrangement out.
Choose a few flowers to remove from the bouquet while all the blooms are still fresh.
The better the quality of the blooms at picking time, the better they'll look when dried and pressed.
If you're picking your own flowers from the garden, keep in mind that it's best to pick flowers in the morning after dew has evaporated.
Wet flowers are prone to mold.
Harvest them when they're ready to open their buds or just before their peak.
Choose flowers that have a flat bud. If the bloom is globe shaped, you can cut it in half so that it’s easier to press.
Also collect blooms and foliage at different stages of development to give your design a natural look.
How to press flowers with a flower press
Flowers with naturally flat blooms are the easiest to press, such as violets and daisies.
If you're pressing flowers with pollen like alstroemeria and lillies, is very important remove that you remove the pollen otherwise the petal will stain.
Ferns and other types of leaves also flatten nicely.
You can also dry chunky flowers such as multi-petal roses or carnations but they'll take longer and need a bit more attention.
1 - Pop your chosen flower(s) in between your two pieces of paper and place this inside the press.
2 - Once you have all the layer you want to press prepared, sandwich your full stack between the pieces of wood and use the 4 screws, washers and wigs nuts to hold the press together.
3 - The flowers will be completely dry and ready to remove in two to three weeks -
4 - Remove your paper carefully, as the dry flower will be extremely delicate.
Top tip – If you're looking to press several flowers at once then make sure they have enough room between them and aren't touching or overlapping.
