Pressing flowers is a fun and easy activity that’s the perfect craft for spring. Creating your own framed pressed flowers can brighten up a room and give it a lovely, farmhouse feel. The best part? It’s cheap and easy to do!
I love pressing flowers for decoration because it’s a fun way to preserve all those beautiful spring flowers. If spring hasn’t arrived in your area yet, you can easily press flowers bought at the grocery store or given to you on a special occasion.
Creating DIY Framed Pressed Flowers for Decoration
Learning to press flowers is incredibly simply and takes only a few items to accomplish. There are many ways to press flowers, but I’m cheap and don’t do it often enough to really invest in expensive equipment. If you’re like me, you’ll only need flowers, heavy books and some tissue paper.
How to Press Flowers the Cheap and Easy Way
Pick out a few flowers you love. These can be spring flowers picked outside, or flowers you fell in love with at the store. Either way, the process is the same.
Between two large, heavy books, spread out tissue paper. The tissue paper collects the moisture from the flowers and prevents the flowers from sticking to the books during the drying and pressing process. You can also use parchment paper or newspaper for flower pressing.
Gently spread out flowers with few blemishes. Be sure that they are dry, so avoid picking flowers on a wet day. You don’t want to add extra moisture to the process.
Lay the flowers down on the tissue in a visually pleasing way. You’ll want to bend and push flower petals and leaves down so that they press and dry flat. Remember that the flowers will dry in the position you place them, so consider how you want to frame the flowers before pressing them.
Place tissue paper on top of the flowers and gently place a heavy book on top of the flowers. Leave the flowers to dry and press for a period of 7-10 days. This time period may vary slightly depending on your humidity level. If you live in an area with high humidity, the process will take longer.
Putting Together the Framed Pressed Flowers
Once your flowers have had time to press and dry, gently remove them from the tissue paper. The flowers will be extremely delicate so keep that in mind when removing them from the books.
Choose a frame that is pleasing to the eye. I enjoy using a “floating” frame because it allows the light to flow through the flower petals and leaves. I have also seen flowers placed on antique looking paper with a large matted frame.
Place the flower petals and leaves in a pattern that you enjoy most. In this example, I used petals from a rose. Roses have many petals, so I didn’t need to press and dry all of them. I used enough to create a beautiful framed photo.
Other flowers, such as this pink orchid, are beautiful as a stand-alone flower. There is no need to add any additional leaves or take the flower apart to create a beautiful look.
Things to Consider
Pressed flowers can last 5-7 years before their color begins to degrade. If you are making these beautiful pieces yourself, it’s easy enough to press new flowers and re-frame them, using the old frames.
Sunlight will naturally bleach and fade the color from the flowers, so keep that in mind if you choose to place these in a spot that receives direct sun.
Additional Ideas
Pressed leaves and herbs are also very pretty options. Leaves are very easy to press and can give a room a pop of green without requiring water and maintenance. Herbs make great decoration for dining rooms and kitchens. They are extremely easy to press and offer a farmhouse feel as well.
Framed Pressed Flowers Make Great Gifts
Pressed flowers and leaves make wonderful gifts for the woman in your life who loves natural beauty and a country chic feel. Birthdays, Mother’s Day or just because, these beautiful framed decor pieces are the perfect natural touch to any room. You can even make them with kids and they are inexpensive too.
MORE PROJECTS TO TRY: Try these DIY Gifts for Moms in 15 Minutes for more great handmade gift ideas! And be sure to check out these Hand Sewn Lavender Sachets.
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