Is there anything lovelier than flowers? They bring colour and life into any space. They have a magical effect on our homes… The problem? They do not last forever, which is why we have a superb craft for giving our flowers a second life so they can decorate our homes indefinitely without wilting.
How do you press flowers?
There are many ways to do so: you can use a wooden flower press, an iron or even a microwave oven! But… pressing flowers in a book is the easiest by far. How? By putting a weight on them and preserving them. You will need a thick book and some type of plain, white and flat absorbent paper. This is what you do:
- Place your favourite flower in between two sheets of absorbent paper and then carefully put them between the pages of the book.
- You can place more flowers in between other pages of the book. When you have finished, close the book and press down on it. Place more books or heavy objects on top of the book that has the flowers to make sure they are sufficiently weighted down.
- Then simply let them stay that way until the flowers dry up completely. 3 to 4 weeks is more than enough. You can check on them after 1 or 2 weeks to see how they are coming along and replace the paper if necessary.
The flowers will be ready when they have a dry texture similar to that of paper. They will be delicate and fragile, so separate them from the paper very carefully, using your fingers and a pair of pincers.
What can we do with them?
Bookmarks of dried flowers
If you like reading, this is the perfect thing for you. You must use clear adhesive paper to make bookmarks with dried flowers. You can create a composition on a rectangular piece of card paper of your favourite colour or use recycled paper. You can also place the flowers directly on the clear adhesive paper and the result will be breathtaking too.
Candles decorated with dried flowers
This is another very original option. The flowers can become a part of the candle or you can make a candle holder and thus preserve them forever. The easiest way to do this is with a big, broad candle. You take the dried and flattened flowers and put them on the candle with the help of some paper and a hair dryer. Simply place the flower you have chosen on the candle, then place vegetal paper on top of it and stick it to the candle with heat from the dryer that will make the candle melt a little and act as glue. You can do the same all around the candle until you are pleased with it.
Floral Invitations and Greeting Cards
Would you like to make some invitation and/or greeting cards from recycled paper and flowers? We love the idea! Follow the very same instructions we used for the bookmarks, adding petals too.
Pictures Pictures made with dried flowers are so appealing and a fairly familiar decorative item. What do you think of the idea?You can make the picture by creating a composition with petals or pressed flowers on a stem and even include dried, unpressed flowers. There are innumerable possibilities… Add leaves, mix colours… use your imagination.
