How To Press Flowers

I knew I wanted to save a few flowers from my beautiful wedding anniversary bouquet, and today I'm going to show you just how easy it is to press your flowers, petals, and foliage for use in projects or display.

Pick the flowers and foliage that you want to press. This rose was wilted but the petals were still soft. If your leaves or petals are dried in the vase, they won't press well.

Find a large book, such as a dictionary or encyclopedia, and tissue paper. Some people use newspaper, but I didn't want to risk transferring any newsprint onto the pages of my dictionary.

Lay a piece of tissue paper in the middle of your open dictionary. Place your flower petals and leaves in a single layer on one page. You can also press whole flowers by gently pressing it flat with your fingers first. Fold your tissue paper and a section of dictionary pages over the top of your flowers. Your petals and leaves should now be sandwiched between layers of tissue paper to protect your dictionary pages. Continue adding flowers to the pages of your dictionary, leaving a section of pages between each set of pressed flowers.

Stack something heavy (a large pile of books works well!) on top of your dictionary to press the flowers. Now you just have to wait for about a week.

A week later, this is how thin my lily was preserved. These flowers and petals will be fragile, so be careful when flipping through your dictionary while removing them. I love how the colors are deeper once the petals are pressed. Now your flowers are ready to be displayed in a shadow box, used in a scrapbook, or added to any project.