How to Make a Flower Press
A flower press is a great way to preserve your beautiful flowers. Pressed flowers can be used for craft projects, scrapbooking, putting in a glass frame and more. I like to use pressed flowers for making cyanotype botanical prints and up-cycled clothing.
I’m going to share with you the items that I used to make my flower press, all of which I purchased at Home Depot. I recommend getting these items at a hardware store, like I did if you are looking to make a robust durable product.
Materials
2 - 12 X 16” pine board 1” thick (the actual type of board that you get does not matter as much here, what matters is the tickness. 1” thick is a good size.)
4 - 3/8 8 inch carriage bolts
4 - 3/8 wing nuts
Power drill and .5 inch drill bit
Steps
Measure your drill holes on the board and mark them with a pencil. On this size board, I measured 1 square inch from the corners for each post.
Drill the holes with a half-inch drill bit (you want the holes to be slightly larger than 3/8).
Lightly sand the holes.
Put the carriage bolts in the drill hole and secure with the wing nuts.
How to Press Flowers
Once your flower press is assembled take two pieces of cardboard, add a layer of newspaper in between the cardboard and lay out your flowers on the newspaper. You can stack as many layers of cardboard, newspaper and pressed flowers as you like to fill your flower press.
It can take a couple of days to a few weeks for your flowers to completely dry.
