Framed Pressed Flower Collage
I had been wanting to make a pressed flower collage for years after I saw one being sold in a store with fake flowers in it. This is what gave rise to the idea as well as I wanted to create a cute and personalized gift for my mom for her birthday! It was super easy and I had a lot of fun picking the flowers and figuring out what my arrangement would look like. I am definitely going to make another one!
Choose the desired flowers you will want to press. It can be as many or as few as you would like. I chose two larger flowers for my collage.
Lay one book down and place a sheet of printer paper over the top of it. This will be where you lay the flowers down. Place the flowers on the printer paper that is covering the book and then lay another sheet over the top of the flowers. Carefully place a decent amount of heavy books on top of the flowers while they are covered. I even added a 10 lb weight to my stack. I pressed my flowers for about 5 days (Saturday to Wednesday). It depends on the size of the flowers but you want to make sure they are adequately pressed so they will fit in the frame.
After 5 days I removed the books to make sure the flowers were pressed enough. Once you are satisfied with how pressed the flowers are, you will move on to drying the flowers.
When placing the flowers in the frame, you want to make sure that they are dry enough. I used the ironing technique, but there were a few other ways of drying out the flowers. Another technique is just pressing the flowers for about two weeks without touching them.
The key to the ironing method is that you want to empty all the water out of the iron. We do not want to accidentally get the flowers wet. Once you empty all the water out, place the iron on low and make sure the steam settings are turned completely off.
Lay a book down on the ironing board and then lay the flowers on the printer paper over the top. Remove the top piece of printer paper and replace with a heat resistant paper like parchment paper.
With the iron on low and the steam functions off place the iron on top of the flowers covered with parchment paper. DO NOT make a swirling motion or moving motion of any kind. Just gently press down for 10 to 15 seconds and then remove the iron. Repeat this step until the flowers are dried out (About 5-10 minutes).
Side note: My flowers are arguably not dry enough, so take that into account haha!
Once you are happy with how dry the flowers are, lay the desired picture frame face down on a carpet or rug and arrange the flowers how you would like them to look inside the frame.
Gently place the back of the frame on over the top of the arranged flowers and fasten properly. Flip over and there you have it!
Use this cute piece to decorate your home and add a pop of color and nature to your quarantine shelter! I gave mine to my mom for her birthday <3
If anyone makes one of these please take a picture and share with me on Facebook or Instagram!
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