Home Made Flower Press
Skipndee
I have been considering pressing the flowers from my garden this year. I read
that the dried flowers are quite useful to make your own note cards and they
appear to be quite lovely.
Has anyone had any experience with creating your own home made flower press?
Or, does anyone know of a site that can give me directions to make my own? I
would appreciate the information..
Please e-mail me...Thanks!
Dee
Zone 6
"One is nearer God's heart in a garden than anywhere else on earth."
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/5456
http://members.aol.com/skipndee/index.htm
M&V
Dee, every year I try pressing all different types of things. If you
want to make a formal press, take two pieces of plywood, about 1/2 inch
thick and approximately 12" square (can be any size you want). Drill
four holes in each of the corners of each piece. Go buy eight bolts,
and eight wingnuts to fit the bolts (bolts should be about 6 inches
long each). Put the bolts through the holes you drilled (big enough
for these bolts) and use the wingnuts to draw the wood together.
Tighten them a little more each day till the flowers are dry. Me, I
save all smooth cardboard and press whatever between those, and in
several weeks, pressed flowers. You can also use acid free paper, or
watercolor paper which is rather absorbant, or special pressing sheets
sold at most craft stores. Last year I pressed a bunch of lambs ears,
which I hot glued to a form to make really pretty wreaths, along with
pressing sweet gum tree leaves when they were in their brightest red of
fall...they kept their color. I always press my final batch of pansies
and violas each year. Want some? The Botanical Research Institute of
Texas (B.R.I.T.) in Fort Worth gets its samples from the field to be
mounted, (polynesia and madagascar) and the specimens are pressed
inside of newspaper. Sometimes the ink rubs off onto lighter colored
flowers, but I have used newspaper with success.
Victoria-have fun!
In <199803281343...@ladder03.news.aol.com> skip...@aol.com
Chris Owens
Skipndee wrote:
>
> I have been considering pressing the flowers from my garden this year. I read
> that the dried flowers are quite useful to make your own note cards and they
> appear to be quite lovely.
>
> Has anyone had any experience with creating your own home made flower press?
> Or, does anyone know of a site that can give me directions to make my own? I
> would appreciate the information..
The easy way is to buy some acid-free blotter paper, and press the
flowers between a couple of big books. If you want something a little
more moveable, buy 4 C-clamps, the blotter paper, and two 1-ft-sq pieces
of 3/4" plywood. Alternately layer blotter paper and flowers on top of
one of the pieces of plywood, starting and finishing with paper. Put the
second piece of plywood on top. Secure the whole thing tightly with a
C-clamp per side, and let sit two weeks.
Chris Owens
birdsell
I use a home made press and it works great!! All you need to do is to cut 2
peices of 3/4" plywood whatever size you want your press to be and then
drill holes in the corners. Use 3 inch screws with wing nuts to hold the 2
peices together and you have your press---easy and cheap. You can buy paper
especially for use in presses and you will also need to use some type of
scrap cardboard to use in between your layers of flowers---just make sure
it's not corrugated or it will show up on your flowers. You can build up
several layers of flowers--sandwiching them in between 2 sheets of paper and
then a layer of cardboard (posterboard will work). Happy pressing!!!
Skipndee wrote in message
<199803281343...@ladder03.news.aol.com>...
>I have been considering pressing the flowers from my garden this year. I
read
>that the dried flowers are quite useful to make your own note cards and
they
>appear to be quite lovely.
>
>Has anyone had any experience with creating your own home made flower
press?
>Or, does anyone know of a site that can give me directions to make my own?
I
>would appreciate the information..
>
Skipndee
An article I read in "Birds and Blooms" profiled a mother/daughter team that
pressed the flowers and had a home based business out of their efforts. They
used laminating sheets from a craft or office supply store to cover the entire
face of the note card after using a dot from a glue stick to hold the flowers
in place. It started as just as nice touch to personal cards and note paper,
bookmarks, and such.
Last week I read of how to apply to candles:
Use white candles and you'll need a tin or some other container to melt
paraffin in to dip the candle once the flowers are in place to put a coat of
wax on the overall project to seal the flowers down.
Place the flowers where you are going to want them, heat a spoon and roll the
spoon on the flower long enough to melt the wax underneath to grab the flower
and hold it in place. Once the project is done, hold the candle by the wick
with a pair of needle nose pliers and dip quickly in the melted paraffin to put
the seal coat of wax on the candle.
Sounds like fun and has endless possibilities.
Dee
PA
M&V
In <352133d2...@nntp.ix.netcom.com> s.m...@ix.netcom.com (Polar)
writes:
>
>
>How do you make the notecards, once you have the flowers pressed?
>
>
>Polar
>
>
Actually, I make my own paper using the flowers I pressed the previous
year. I do this by making a pulp with the white junk mail I get by the
tons (it seems). I put the torn paper bits into a blender, cover with
water, make a slurry, add that (I do this several times) to a vat of
warm water (sometimes with added color) and swish it around. With
smaller flowers like lavender, I add it to the slurry and when I put
the screen under the slurry pulp, the small flowers stick into the
paper fibers...I allow to dry. OR, after dragging the screen though
the slurry, I then place pansies or other dried larger flowers into the
wet paper pulp. Dry. This sounds like a lot of work, but if you have
time to play, it is very relaxing and rewarding to make paper out of
that junk mail.
Victoria
D. Michael McIntyre
>especially for use in presses and you will also need to use some type of
>scrap cardboard to use in between your layers of flowers---just make sure
>it's not corrugated or it will show up on your flowers. You can build up
Go to your local Wal-Mart furniture department early in the morning
while they're stocking the picture frames. :)
I used to work at Wal-Mart, and I've got tons of cardboard stored for
use in my flower press and various other things. The 24-count $2.00
picture frames are packed with a layer of inexpensive grey cardboard
(or some kind of paper board anyway; it probably has a name but I
don't know what it is) between each pair, and there are dozens of
boxes to unpack every morning, depending on how busy your local
Wal-Mart is.
This only works if you built your press to be 8x10, but that's what
size mine is, so that works out well.
I have gotten good results just using this stuff without any kind of
intermediate paper. The cardboard is fairly absorbant, and easy to
replace, and I never had a problem with it changing the color of my
flowers.
I can't speak for other people, but I was always happy to give the
stuff to customers who asked for it. I was just going to throw it
away anyway.
---
D. Michael McIntyre
(Demolition Man)
mmci...@swva.net
www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/index.html