Plant Pressing Tips!

by Kaylah Stroup

This post has been updated + can be found here instead.

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43 comments

Bubble My Licorice November 1, 2012 - 11:56 am

amazing tips 🙂
I love this post!

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Jess November 1, 2012 - 12:08 pm

Thanks for the tips. I've been meaning to have a go at pressing for ages – I figure they'd look really pretty on cards, and maybe even wrapping paper. Good time to start with all these pretty autumn colours around.

Manda Rave November 1, 2012 - 1:04 pm

Great post! I haven't pressed plants in ages, but my mom used to keep a photo album filled with things we'd find out hiking. I should start again..

Enid Twiglet November 1, 2012 - 1:04 pm

these are so pretty. I have always like the idea of keeping a notebook of feathers I find when I am out and about. I think you have just inspired me to actually do it, thank you! x

http://enidtwiglet.blogspot.com.au/

Renée November 1, 2012 - 1:07 pm

Awesome tips!!

★steph November 1, 2012 - 1:50 pm

Lovely tips! I've been wanting to start regularly pressing plants for ages, so far I only have a couple from trips abroad.

Aleksandrova Helga November 1, 2012 - 1:50 pm

too much text for me) I usually look only your photos, but do not read. But I love your blog! With love from Russia))

robyn November 1, 2012 - 1:57 pm

I was just recently introduced to this awesome thing called the Microfluer that dries leaves and flowers, etc. Basically it is a press that you use in your microwave that presses and dries plants within mere seconds. It's great because unlike other drying products that I've seen that use silica gel, there are no replacement parts. Once you have the contraption you are set to make as many dried leaves as you want. It leaches the moisture out of the leaves. My sister said bulky flowers don't press that well. Also, the woman who first introduced it to me has been using hers for over 10 years and still have preserved leaves from that long ago. Unlike when you press leaves in a book, these leaves don't get dry and brittle. I posted about it here: http://www.robayre.com/news/2012/10/23/12-hour-craft-extravaganza-and-fall-leaf-garland/

Sydney November 1, 2012 - 2:30 pm

Thanks so much for sharing this! I've been so excited to see your process.

Melissa November 1, 2012 - 3:05 pm

These tips are great! I can't wait to go out and find some plants to press!!

<3 Melissa
wildflwrchild.blogspot.com

Brooke @ You're in Brookelynn November 1, 2012 - 3:13 pm

These are great tips! I've just started pressing recently and it's nice to know that there isn't any "right" way to do it. Your pressings are so pretty, too! This post makes me want to start doing it more regularly 🙂

♥ Brooke
http://youreinbrookelynn.blogspot.com/

Amanda November 1, 2012 - 3:46 pm

I like to hang flowers upside down to dry them out, it preserves their shape and they get a bit darker but a bouquet of dry roses can be really pretty. I just tape them upside down to a wall and I can see their progress in drying out

Bethany November 1, 2012 - 3:57 pm

Those would be great for framing as art!

http://bethsquidly.blogspot.com/

Andrea Deal November 1, 2012 - 4:01 pm

Great post!

Cindy November 1, 2012 - 4:16 pm

Hi Kaylah! Thank you so much for choosing me as the lucky winner of Rachael's giveaway and also for linking to my blog. You gals have made my day and I honestly cannot thank you both enough.

xoxo

Caleisha November 1, 2012 - 4:27 pm

Thank you so much for the tips 🙂 Hopefully I can try my hand at pressing soon!

Caleisha
apt-203.blogspot.com

Chloe Verde November 1, 2012 - 4:28 pm

amazing tips! I'm sort of sad I missed out on dressing flowers this spring/summer, I thought I had a good idea to press them in my airing cupboard but they went brown and shrunk up. Boo!!

chloe.

Lhizette C. November 1, 2012 - 4:35 pm

thanks for tips! I put my fresh specimens between recycled brown paper bags and then like you, I also stack heavy books on top! ferns are really pretty but Boston ferns and the like are very fragile when dried, they shed their leaves easily. the other species are fine though!

Unifyhandmade November 1, 2012 - 5:12 pm

TFS! I wanna give this a try 😀

Mandy November 1, 2012 - 5:55 pm

Yes! I've been waiting for this post! Thanks so much, I think that covered all of my previous questions and then some. I'm excited to try it out again. Paper towels is definitely the way to go since mine always seem to have too much moisture and end up getting moldy, also I supposed tissue paper isn't the best method, I used it because I skimmed something online about it. I can't wait to try again and we have two ferns in our backyard that I can't wait to pick from 🙂

xomando

Marjory November 1, 2012 - 8:14 pm

Beautiful. I love to press them on my journal. it is such a beautiful thing to come back to an old page and be pleasantly surprised by them.

Rebecca Recommends November 1, 2012 - 8:44 pm

I love this post! I recently saw a flower press in a charity shop, and I have no idea why I didn't buy it! I might just have to go back 🙂 xxx

rrecommends.blogspot.com

Lune Munro November 1, 2012 - 9:29 pm

I've been doing this passively for years, but it's an on and off thing. Thanks for the reminder of what a beautiful hobby this can be. Great post!

Sasha Fitzgerald November 1, 2012 - 10:06 pm

Awesome tips, thanks! I already press leaves during the fall for Halloween decorations, but would love to get into pressing flowers. I'd like to try out making collaged images of things with the leaves and flowers (like animals and such). I think that'd be neat! Anyway, thanks again for the tips! 🙂

– Sasha
http://www.lacewinged.com

Kati November 1, 2012 - 10:23 pm

Thanks for those tips! I'm totally going out tomorrow to get some leaves and flowers for pressing!
-Kati

Sara Ivy November 1, 2012 - 11:37 pm

These are awesome! I have heard that hanging them upside down works or putting them in phone books or spraying them with hair spray will preserve them and I've tried everything except using paper towels!

I'm going to try it and see how it works, though it's really hard to find paper towels that don't have patterns on them!

Sara
http://saraivy.org

Two Happy Hearts November 2, 2012 - 5:05 am

So cool! I've always wanted to get into pressing plants. Thanks for sharing your method 😉

Britney Irby November 2, 2012 - 1:18 pm

I stumbled upon these floral x-rays by Brendan Fitzpatrick the other day and thought of you. http://thisiscolossal.com/?s=floral+x-rays

And thank you for sharing your methods. I collected and pressed flowers when I was in 8th grade for a biology assignment, and seeing your pretty notebooks made me want to start again, but I couldn't remember how my teacher had shown us to do it. I'll definitely be starting up again soon.

Victoria November 2, 2012 - 2:51 pm

I used to press flowers with my Granny as a young child. I have a couple of old bookmarks we made with them still! So beautiful! Your post brought back a lot of lovely memories for me. 🙂

Great tips too!

Victoria xx
irisandevelyn.blogspot.co.uk

MZ November 2, 2012 - 7:09 pm

Thank you for the wonderful tips! I've been attempting to press plants for most of the year, and these are super helpful. Sadly, I live in the desert and there's not many pretty plants for me to press :c

Sarah November 3, 2012 - 6:01 am

Ooh, thanks for the tips!
My mom and I have always pressed leaves from when we'd travel to the mountains during fall, but I'd like to get flowers and other things too. Your collection rocks!

Memory box at 27 November 18, 2012 - 8:49 pm

Just got back from a nice walk with my son, rushed on the laptop to read your post, because i saw it few days ago and i just picked some pretty leaves. so i knew where to go to get some advice for beginners like me 😀 thanks for sharing! btw i LOVELOVELOVE cats. I have one, her name is Mila and she is alsmot 15 yo O_o I had to leave her with my folks though because I was moving to USA. Miss her every day! 🙁

Anna December 15, 2012 - 5:44 pm

This was such a cute tutorial and tip for saving pretty plants. I love reading all your posts! Mentioned this one on my blog recently, too 🙂 http://tinyurl.com/cvs2avh

Sanne December 20, 2012 - 7:20 pm

Love this post, very helpfull!

Anestazia January 3, 2013 - 1:28 am

Awesome post! This might be kind of silly, but what do you do with the plants after they're dry? Plant pressing seems right up my alley, but I don't want to hoard dried plants… :-/

Emma Day February 17, 2013 - 9:16 am

This was so helpful as I'm about to embark on flower pressing myself!

ohhomesweethome.blogspot.co.uk

May Chan May 10, 2014 - 8:26 am

they look awesome!! thx for your tips!!

Pavlos Lombardi September 19, 2014 - 2:50 am

I really love this post! I've been wanting to make my own journal for flowers and plants, but I just wasn't sure how to press them right. I'd always end up ruining the plants with my methods. So I'll defiantly be giving you advice a try, and hopefully it works a lot better than mine did.
http://charlottecountyflowers.com

Shani Parkman October 19, 2014 - 8:42 pm

You're really inspiring me to want to start pressing plants! I did it a couple of times when I was young, sometimes we'd find plants stuffed between pages in the bookshelf months later, but I would love to do it again and properly display them this time.

http://lacemountains.blogspot.com/

twelvedaysold October 23, 2014 - 10:23 pm

Thank you for this post!! You and another person I follow on IG have made me want to start doing this, I think I'll give it a shot!

Melissa July 2, 2017 - 9:16 am

I tried pressing flowers in a plastic bag in a textbook and all I got was gooey, flat, but smelly flowers. So I assume the paper towels are essential haha

Kaylah July 2, 2017 - 11:01 am

Haha, yeeeah. The plastic bag is just trapping all the moisture while the paper towels will absorb it.

'Tis the Season for Creativity | Artist Strong December 16, 2017 - 4:24 pm

[…] Collect leaves and plants as the seasons change and create a family plant press book. […]

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