When I was nine years old, my best friend gave me a flower press for my birthday. It had a picture of Anne from Anne of Green Gables on the front, & screwed together on four corners. It was fantastic at pressing flowers, which was excellent for a young girl living in the rolling hills.
I've kept this flower press with me all this time. Today when I unscrewed it, I was reminded of my first attempt using it. I carefully placed my flowers in between the pages, & quickly screwed it shut. Minutes later the press was apart & I was checking to see if my flowers were flat yet. No such luck, of course, so I screwed the press back together again. Paused, then unscrewed. Then screwed back together. This process went on for a while, until I think I just forgot about my flowers, & accidentally let weeks pass without checking on them. Which turned out to be just what needed to happen.
Even if you don't have a press, it's very simple to press your own flowers. Place your fresh flowers in between parchment paper, then lay them flat in between the pages of a heavy book (the heavier the better - add a few books on top if your book isn't heavy enough). A few weeks later & you'll have preserved flowers, ready for use. Try & use flowers that aren't too bulky. The best flowers to use are ones with thin petals, ones with smaller blooms, & ones that retain their color.
I decided to use my flowers to decorate this tray. The plan is to install hanging hardware on the tray & mount it on the wall. I brushed decoupage on the tray, laid down my flowers, & then applied a second coat of decoupage.
It's the simple things.
xoxo,
-m.e.
Related // Instead of pressing your flowers, try drying them.
great post
ReplyDeleteThanks!!
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