Pressed flower bouquet tips

As beautiful as fresh flowers are, they will not last forever. Pressed flower arrangements allow you to make the most of your bouquet and enjoy its beauty for that much longer. Pressed flowers can be used in many ways. Here’s an easy way of pressing and arranging a beautiful dried bouquet.

You need:

• Fresh flowers suitable for pressing
• Tissue paper (2 sheets)
• Cardboard (2 sheets)
• A large book or flower press
• Extra weight if necessary
• One piece of firm cardboard for arranging you design
• Transparent glue
• Toothpick or paintbrush
• Photo frame to match the size of the paper
• Damp cloth

Steps:

• When you receive a fresh flower arrangement or when you pick flowers from your garden, you need to make sure that they are suitable for pressing. Some flowers are quite thick or they have a lot of tightly wrapped petals which means that they might not press well. In this case, you might want to remove the petals and press them individually. You can then reconstruct the flower by sticking the petals on top of one another.
• Once your flowers are ready and you have removed any damaged petals, you can then get your press ready. Open a book anywhere in the middle or towards the back.
• Place your two pieces of cardboard inside the book (one on each side) and then add your two pieces of tissue paper.
• Arrange your flowers on the tissue paper and make sure that there’s enough space in between them so that they don’t overlap.
• Close your book so that your flowers are nestled between two sheets of tissue paper backed by cardboard.
• If necessary, place additional weights on top of your book. If you are using a press, tighten your press accordingly.
• Leave your flowers for at least a couple of weeks before checking on them. Any dry flowers can be removed. Any flowers that are not properly pressed should remain in the press for another week before you check on them again. Once they are dried and pressed properly, you can remove them and prepare to have fun!
• Get your firm cardboard ready and, if you like, you can paint it or cover it with colourful paper. Just make sure that the paper or paint you use is significantly lighter than the flowers in your bouquet and that there is no pattern that could draw attention away from the floral display.
• Now plan your arrangement so that you know more or less where each flower will go.
• Once you are ready, you can start using your paintbrush or toothpick to apply transparent glue to each flower or petal. Stick them down one by one and remember to always apply the bottom layers first if your flowers are to overlap.
• Use the damp cloth to keep your hands clean and to avoid them sticking to the flowers.
• When you are done, let the glue dry and add the frame. Now you are ready to enjoy the beauty of your work!