DIY Flower Press: How to Dry Your Cut Flowers
Have you ever wanted to make your own DIY flower press? It’s actually not hard at all. Check out how to create your very own now!
Do you enjoy preserving flowers? Maybe even a few four leaf clovers on occasion? I do believe that I’ve been drying flowers and random plant life since I was a young girl.
There’s just something about keeping a memory for many more years to come that gets me every time! However, my method of drying these little bits of happiness has not exactly been the most efficient.
For instance, most recently I’ve just shoved them into any random book I could find, put it under a few pieces of wood, and then forgot about it for about a year. Sad, right? Well, I decided it was about time that I created my own DIY flower press to be able to properly preserve all my unforgettable moments with plant life.
Materials Needed
- 2 pieces of plywood (any size you would like)
- 4 pieces of cardboard (cut to the size of your plywood)
- 1 piece of parchment or freezer paper
- 4 carriage bolts (big enough to fit through your plywood and cardboard)
- 4 wing nuts
- plant life
- paint
- vinyl and transfer paper (if you’ll be putting on a stencil)
Tools Needed
- Drill and drill bit
- Scissors
- Silhouette Cameo (only if you’d like to put a stencil on your flower press!)
Steps
1.) Once you’ve decided on the length and width of your plywood go ahead and cut it down to size. I selected my size based on the ferns that I wanted to dry.
2.) Next, decide where you will be putting your carriage bolts and mark on your plywood. Depending on how big your plywood is you might need more than four carriage bolts and wing nuts.
3.) Drill your holes into your plywood using a drill bit that is slightly bigger then your bolt. This will help your bolt fit smoothly into its spot.
4.) You know me. I like to paint everything, and make it look pretty 🙂 If you’d prefer to skip this step, no worries!
5.) If you don’t have a Silhouette Cameo I highly, highly suggest investing in one. Not only do I use it with my business, but every day projects like this one! It allows you to not only create your own works of art, but also purchase pre-made ones as well. I cannot say enough good things about this little machine!
6.) After your stencil has dried go ahead and cut out your four pieces of cardboard. Make sure they fit within your plywood.
NOTE: I fit my cardboard in to reach the ends of my plywood, and then drilled holes into them. I’m not sure if this will help, hinder or have no effect. I’ll keep you updated with my results though!
7.) If you haven’t already picked or set aside your fresh plant life go ahead and do so at this point. The fresher, the better!
8.) Now, it’s assembly time! Insert two of your cardboard pieces on top of one of your pieces of plywood. Next, add your parchment of freezer paper. I found that taping one side of my freezer paper to the cardboard and then folding it over significantly helped with keeping it all together.
9.) Add your plant life into the middle of your paper and fold over. Place your remaining two pieces of cardboard on top and then add your top piece of plywood.
10.) Last, screw on your wing nuts. Easy-peasy 🙂
Depending on which book or article you read there are varying lengths of time you should wait before you open up your flower press. Personally, I’m going to wait an entire month before “disrupting” the process, and then see where I’m at.
Good luck to all, and see you in a month to see how this process worked out 🙂
