4 of 10

Write now Article Tools

There are many crafts associated with the country but one of the most delightful is the preservation and display of flowers, foliage and fruit. Beautiful collages can be created from blossoms picked in high summer and leaves gathered during the autumn. Sprays of leaves and larger flowers can be preserved in an almost natural state to make wonderful winter decorations.

Pressing Flowers

When collecting flowers , grasses, seed heads and leaves for pressing make sure they are dry otherwise mould will form. Once collected your material needs pressing as soon as possible.

Special flower presses can be purchased but there is no reason why a beginner cannot obtain good results with traditional methods using blotting paper, books and bricks.

Before pressing your materials need preparing this simply involves discarding thick stalks and separating leaves, flowers and seeds.

Take your flowers, leaves or grasses and place them between sheets of blotting paper. Place these in a book with absorbent pages (don't use a treasured book for obvious reasons..). Close the book and then place another book or bricks on the top.

It usually takes between three to four weeks for pressed flowers to dry. Do not remove the weights too soon and if after the first inspection the flowers do not appear ready leave them for a while longer.

Suitable flowers for pressing:
Acronlinium
Buttercup
C lematis
Daisy
Delphinium
Larkspur
Golden Rod
Mimosa
Hydrangea Florets
Lobelia
Pansy

Suitable leaves and ferns to press:
Grevillea Robusta
Epimedium
Beech
Ivy
Clemat is
Senecio Maritima
Centaurea
Achillea
Maple

Suitable grasses for pressing

Barley
Quaking Grass
Hares Tail
Fairy Grass

Leaf Skeletons

An unusual and attractive way of pressing leaves is to make leaf-skeleton pictures. These are also a good idea for personal greeting cards to send to friends.
To make a leaf skeleton you first have to remove all the soft vegetable matter from the leaf, leaving only the skeleton. This is quite a simple process.

Firstly, take 6 large cabbage leaves and put them in a saucepan with 2 pints of water. Bring to the boil and simmer for half an hour. Drain the liquid into a bucket and leave to cool.

You then need to choose your leaves. Make sure that you only choose leaves that are in good condition.

Once you have chosen the leaves place them into the cabbage water. It is advisable to place the bucket away from the house as after a few days the liquid begins to smell.

After a week examine the leaves and gently turn them in the liquid. Once the vegetable matter

• 1
• 2
• 3
• next page >>

Add your voice

Know something about How to make pressed flowers?
We want to hear your view. Write now!