DIY How to Press Flowers

Let’s explore the DIY process of pressing flowers to preserve their colors and delicate shapes. I’m using a wooden press gifted to me for Mother’s Day and can’t wait to show you how to press flowers!

Step 1: Collect Necessary Items For Pressing Flowers

A Flower press (The one I’m using is handcrafted by Tyler Morris Woodworking. A more budget friendly option is this flower pressing kit on Amazon. You can also use a couple of heavy books!
Parchment or blotting papers
Clippers
Tweezers
Basket or bucket with fresh water to hold flowers until ready
Towels
Flowers
Glue that dries clear like Mod Podge or Elmer’s
Toothpicks or small paintbrush
Picture frame

Step 2: Choose your Flowers for Pressing

Thin or flat flowers have better results than heavy thick blossoms.
Look for blooms with unique shapes and colors.
Remember to include some leaves to add as accents.
Skip flowers and leaves with lots of moisture that are prone to mildew in the press.

*Ginger Tip: I suggest picking flowers in the middle of the day and avoiding the morning dew.

Step 3: Prep the Flowers and Leaves for Pressing

Remove excess foliage and dense stems.
Shake out any critters that might be hiding in the flowers!
Dry gently with towels to avoid excess moisture.

Step 4: Arrange on Sheets of Paper

Avoid overlapping plants.
Press flowers of similar weight and density on each sheet of paper.

Step 5: Top with More Paper and Tighten Press

Depending on your flower press design, tighten the press so that it’s snug, but not too tight.
After a couple of days, retighten. This allows the foliage to flatten slowly without releasing too much moisture at one time.

My flower press is a one piece screw method like the one pictured below. Other popular designs have two wooden plates with paper in the middle and four corner screws like this flower press from Etsy seller, HeartWoodandRose. Tighten the wing nuts in each corner.

Another option is the heavy book flower press. Arrange your flowers on a folded piece of parchment paper and place inside the book between the pages. Close the book and stack a few more on top to weigh it down.

Step 6: Wait 1-2 Weeks and Frame Pressed Flowers

You might need to wait longer if your climate is humid or your flowers are dense.
Pressed flowers might be brittle.
Use tweezers to lift gently off paper.
Apply tiny dots of glue with a toothpick or small paint brush to adhere pressed flowers to paper for framing.
Frame when dry!
A floating frame works well and looks lovely on display.

Here are some more flowers that I recently pressed. The ones on the parchment paper are book pressed, and the ones on the white blotting paper are wood pressed.

Lessons Learned

As you can see below, my daisy did not dry properly. I believe I tightened the press too tightly too quickly. This was my densest blossom and held the most moisture.