Pressing Flowers and Leaves

Great gifts from your own garden

Lavandula angustifolia ‘Royal Velvet’
Item # 63118 		Lavandula angustifolia ‘Royal Velvet’
Royal Velvet English Lavender

each $7.99
3 or more $7.79
  • Topic: Gifts from your Garden
  • Author: Mary Ann Walz
  • Keywords: pressed flowers, Other, leaf
  • Date: December 2004

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‘Tis the season for giving, and there’s not a nicer gift than one from your garden—one that you create, and one that children can help you make. Starting with pressed flowers or leaves, the possible crafts include note cards, bookmarks, and small floral pictures. But you first need to have pressed flowers, and they’re easy to do.

1) Select simple, fairly flat flowers and leaves to start. Asters, daisies, chocolate flowers or poppy mallow are good possibilities. Pick the flowers when at their best and make sure they are not wet. If using colorful fall leaves, try spraying them lightly with glycerin (available at drugstores) before pressing.

2) Flowers can be dried in a flower press available at craft stores, botanical garden gift shops, or some gardening supply stores. Heavy books can also be used as can a microwave.

3) With a flower press, arrange flower or leaf on a sheet of plain white paper (tissue paper, waxed paper or newsprint). Lay the flower as flat as possible with no overlapping parts. Cover with a layer of newspaper then with a piece of thin cardboard. You can make several layers. Press in press and tighten with straps or wing nuts. Check the flowers weekly; it takes anywhere from 2 to 3 weeks or more for flowers to dry completely.

4) Using a heavy book, follow the same steps, omitting the cardboard. Close the book and add several other books on top to weigh down.

5) Using a microwave, place flowers on white paper, place in a paper towel and then place in a book. Microwave for a few seconds at a time, check flowers and continue until nearly dry. Finish the drying process in a heavy book. This cuts the drying time to about one day.

6) Pressed flowers will fade. To brighten them up, use ground chalk or artist’s pastels and gently paint petals after drying.

After your flowers are ready, use creativity and white glue to arrange the pressed leaves and flowers on cardstock.