Pressing Flowers into Glass Frames
Before I do any DIY, I research! I love DIY’s, but I think it’s important to learn from the mistakes of others first, that way I’m not wasting my time! What has worked for other bloggers, florists, and DIY pros?
Flowers are not my specialty at all! So I really wanted to make sure I understood best practices when it comes to floral pressing. I didn’t want to end up with browned or yellowed flowers.
First of all, pressed floral arrangements are SO IN on Etsy this year and I’m loving all the elaborate arrangements I’m seeing. Secondly, One of the main products I offer in my business, The Vow Collective, is a frame with my vow calligraphy on the left and a dried floral arrangement of pressed flowers on the right. I want to give couples the opportunity to press their bouquets or a special bouquet of flowers from their significant other. I leave the floral arranging up to the couple, but I thought a little tutorial video couldn’t hurt!
How I pressed my flowers (Make sure you watch the vide below to get a full understanding of what I did!):
I cut up my flowers. I carefully cut some of them in half with my exacto knife. For others, I cut off their petals and centers entirely.
The goal is to get the moisture out of the flowers (the less moisture there is the more flat your flowers will lay).
I put my flowers in between two pieces of paper and ironed them. Fifteen seconds on. Fifteen Seconds on. It definitely started smelling like baked flowers! I then left them out to dry for a day or two. Once they were finished drying, I carefully picked them off the paper with my Exacto knife and moved them to my glass frame. I used the extra petals to accentuate the florals. You could use a minimal amount of flowers or a lot, just make sure the frame still closes!
Use glue if necessary. While my flowers connected to stems stayed in place, some of the looser petals moved around a bit when I set my frame up, in the future, I’ll add a small bit of glue to the looser petals.
If your’e really unsure how to arrange them, consider this: Go ahead and google pressed floral arrangements or find some on Etsy. Get some inspiration or ideas from what others have done. Remember, people who press flowers for a living are pros, and it’s okay to go in a simple direction with your floral arrangement. I made this arrangement with just three smaller flowers from a large bouquet I purchased at the grocery store. You really don’t need many flowers or leaves to make it look pretty.
If you feel you need a bit more education, I found this super helpful post by Pro Flowers and am currently experimenting with a handful of their different pressing methods!
Do you have experience pressing flowers? Is there a method that has worked really well for you? I’d love to hear about it!
Happy Pressing! I’d love to hear how it goes for you!
Stacie
