How to Press Flowers
Flowers elevate our mood and brighten our spaces for a few days, requiring some care and maintenance before they wilt away. Part of the beauty of a flower arrangement is its fleeting nature. There’s always a fresh new vase of flowers to replace the wilted one, symbolizing fresh starts. But some flowers are more special than others and we might want to keep them forever for sentimental reasons.
It could be your wedding bouquet, flowers from your graduation, flowers from your children for Mother’s Day or Father’s Day, the first flowers you received from a romantic partner. The flowers can be an important keepsake through which you look back fondly at important moments in your life. The oldest and, if you ask me, the sweetest way to do this is pressing flowers.
When should you press flowers?
It’s best to press flowers when they’re at their freshest to retain color and make sure they don’t fall apart. Fys Flower offers a large collection of flowers in the freshest state, perfect for pressing.
Are you a beginner to pressing flowers? It’s best to start with flowers that are naturally flatter and so easier for a beginner. Thinner and smaller flowers are better for the first time. But you can’t really decide when you get the first bunch of flowers you want to press. So it’s not the end of the world if they’re not the easiest flowers to press.
What to press flowers in?
The most traditional way to press flowers is inside books. This method can cause the ink on the pages to transfer to the flowers. You can prevent this by putting in the buffer of wax papers or use plain unprinted books. But there is a certain charm to having pressed flowers with some special words transferred on to the from books. If damage to the book is not a concern for you and you like this aesthetic, you can skip the wax paper.
The key is to have something to absorb moisture from the flowers to dry them before mold gets to them. Some force from two sides to press them flat. This can be a heavy book or even planks of wood held together tight. You can go with card stock, the thickness of the material helping with absorbing moisture. You can go with paper towels from your kitchen roll, but only if you don’t mind having indents of the pattern on your flowers.
If you want to get more advanced with it, you can use a mechanical press with tightening screws on the corners to adjust the pressure.
Make sure you apply equal pressure across the entire surface for uniform drying.
What are the steps to press flowers?
Step 1: Choose your favourite flowers out of the arrangement if you want to display some of the flowers in a vase. Alternatively, you can choose to preserve all the flowers.
Step 2: Cut off any thick parts of the arrangement like thick stems because they can let air in. You can remove petals and arrange them in a pattern you like. Or you can merely arrange them artfully.
Step 3: Ensure the flowers are as dry as they can be. Use a paper towel to dab off any dampness.
Step 4: Lay the flowers on the parchment paper in your pattern of choice. Using more layers of paper can help with absorption as some flowers are more watery. Make sure the flowers don’t overlap. Any surface that isn’t touching the parchment will have a harder time drying. Use as few flowers as you can on one surface. That’ll make it easier for you to press them flat.
Step 5: Check to make sure there’s enough pressure. The flowers are shrinking and may need more pressure as time goes by. It’s easier when you're using a mechanical press- simply tighten the screws.
Step 6: Check back on the flowers in about two weeks. The drying time varies by flower type and your arrangement pattern. If they’re not dry, just give them more time.
What to do with pressed flowers?
There’s so many creative ways to display your pressed flowers.
You can arrange them in a creative pattern before pressing them. I’ve seen moons, cats, hearts and so many wonderful shapes. People often press their wedding flowers in the shape of a bouquet, adding pencil strokes or threading a ribbon through the paper to add to the bouquet look.
You can frame the pressed flowers in a transparent frame or with a paper backing. They make for such a personal and natural decoration for your home.
You can make pressed flower jewelry like a pendant with the smaller flowers preserved in resin. A ring would be beautiful but infinitely more complicated.
Looking to give someone a card? Skip the impersonal hallmark cards and make one yourself with pressed flowers.
If pressing flowers becomes a hobby, you can start a collection of pressed flowers. Start a book of pressed flowers. Write down significant details about the flowers and the special memories surrounding them. It can become a kind of floral diary of your life, marking the special moments in a beautiful way.
You can buy fresh flowers from a Fys Flowers shop near you in Sharjah or Dubai. You need the freshest flowers for pressing. Simply order flowers online for easy hassle free flower delivery in the UAE.