Art of Pressed Flowers
If you love flowers then why let your favorite flowers wither away. Let the beauty of the flowers last for a long time. Make your own bookmark, greeting cards, note cards and send floral messages to your loved.
Without any artificial paints or chemical, pressed flower art presents the beauties from the nature. To retain the wonderful natural color select top quality fresh flowers, process them and dry them as quickly as you can. Place the flower presser in a sealed plastic box filled with silica gel for fast drying. The color of flowers will come out much better than pressing between sheets of paper. Getting started:-
Two 8 inch squares of ½ plywood
Four ¼ inch carriage bolts (4 inches long)
Four ¼ inch wing nuts
Eight ¼ inch flat washers
Unprinted newsprint
Twenty 8 x 8 inch squares of white felt
Corrugated cardboard
Flowers, stems and leaves
MAKING THE FLOWER PRESS :-
Tape two 8inch squares of plywood together. Measure ½ inch in from each edge and drill a ¼ inch hole on each corner. Remove the tape.
Cut cardboard, felt and unprinted newsprint into 8 inch squares. Trim of all the corners at 45degree angles.
Place a ¼ inch flat washer on a carriage bolt. Push it up through the bottom piece of plywood. Fill the press. Top with the second piece of plywood slip a washer over the end of each bolt. Tighten it with a wing nut.
THE PROJECT:-
Cut flowers off and carefully pick the leaves off too. Lay flowers and leaves on a piece of paper. Flowers facing down would work the best. Scratch skins off from the stems on one side and line on paper. Layer materials in the press in this order: cardboard, felt, newsprint, flowers and leaves, and newsprint. Repeat, the process ending with cardboard. You can have maximum seven layers of flowers in a presser. Secure presser with nuts and place it into a box fill with silica gel on the bottom.
Allow 3 to 6 weeks for the flowers and leaves to dry. When the dry they feel like paper and may change colors slightly in the process. After removing from the press store them between pages of the newsprint in large envelopes. Mark the envelopes with the names of lowers stored inside. When you are done, store in a plastic box with some silica gel inside.
Attaching the flower:- White glue can be used for pressed flower projects. Before starting to glue the flowers it is better to practice to arrange in a pleasing pattern or sketch an outline for your design. Apply only minimum amount of glues on the back of each flower and joint positions of leaves with a toothpick. Carefully press it in place using the tip of your finger. Allow pictures to be completely dry. The best way is to put the finished picture into a large box that contains silica gel. Picture should be dry in one day.
To keep flowers away from moisture in the air, it needs to be sealed before displaying. There are several ways to seal pressed flower arts. You can laminate it if the art is not too big and the flowers on the picture are thin. Another way is to cut a piece of clear adhesive backed vinyl that measures ¼ inch larger all around than your bookmark or the front of your folded card. Peel off the protective paper. Starting form the top of the design, cover the project with the vinyl. Trim the excess vinyl. Place the projects, vinyl side up, between 2 sheets of heavy white paper. Press for 2 or 3 seconds using an iron box with the correct setting.
Without any artificial paints or chemical, pressed flower art presents the beauties from the nature. To retain the wonderful natural color select top quality fresh flowers, process them and dry them as quickly as you can. Place the flower presser in a sealed plastic box filled with silica gel for fast drying. The color of flowers will come out much better than pressing between sheets of paper. Getting started:-
Two 8 inch squares of ½ plywood
Four ¼ inch carriage bolts (4 inches long)
Four ¼ inch wing nuts
Eight ¼ inch flat washers
Unprinted newsprint
Twenty 8 x 8 inch squares of white felt
Corrugated cardboard
Flowers, stems and leaves
MAKING THE FLOWER PRESS :-
Tape two 8inch squares of plywood together. Measure ½ inch in from each edge and drill a ¼ inch hole on each corner. Remove the tape.
Cut cardboard, felt and unprinted newsprint into 8 inch squares. Trim of all the corners at 45degree angles.
Place a ¼ inch flat washer on a carriage bolt. Push it up through the bottom piece of plywood. Fill the press. Top with the second piece of plywood slip a washer over the end of each bolt. Tighten it with a wing nut.
THE PROJECT:-
Cut flowers off and carefully pick the leaves off too. Lay flowers and leaves on a piece of paper. Flowers facing down would work the best. Scratch skins off from the stems on one side and line on paper. Layer materials in the press in this order: cardboard, felt, newsprint, flowers and leaves, and newsprint. Repeat, the process ending with cardboard. You can have maximum seven layers of flowers in a presser. Secure presser with nuts and place it into a box fill with silica gel on the bottom.
Allow 3 to 6 weeks for the flowers and leaves to dry. When the dry they feel like paper and may change colors slightly in the process. After removing from the press store them between pages of the newsprint in large envelopes. Mark the envelopes with the names of lowers stored inside. When you are done, store in a plastic box with some silica gel inside.
Attaching the flower:- White glue can be used for pressed flower projects. Before starting to glue the flowers it is better to practice to arrange in a pleasing pattern or sketch an outline for your design. Apply only minimum amount of glues on the back of each flower and joint positions of leaves with a toothpick. Carefully press it in place using the tip of your finger. Allow pictures to be completely dry. The best way is to put the finished picture into a large box that contains silica gel. Picture should be dry in one day.
To keep flowers away from moisture in the air, it needs to be sealed before displaying. There are several ways to seal pressed flower arts. You can laminate it if the art is not too big and the flowers on the picture are thin. Another way is to cut a piece of clear adhesive backed vinyl that measures ¼ inch larger all around than your bookmark or the front of your folded card. Peel off the protective paper. Starting form the top of the design, cover the project with the vinyl. Trim the excess vinyl. Place the projects, vinyl side up, between 2 sheets of heavy white paper. Press for 2 or 3 seconds using an iron box with the correct setting.