What Flowers to Press

• Flat flowers are best for pressing.

Good Flowers

• Violets
  • They retain a nice deep blue color after pressing.

Bad Flowers

• Irises
  • The flowers hold too much moisture causing mold growth.
  • When devoid of moisture, they become fragile and brittle.

How to Press Flowers

1. Pick flowers when they are dry.
   • Wet flowers will likely develop mold.
2. Press the flowers in a hard cover book.
   1. Set two paper towels on either side of a set of pages.
   2. Lay the flowers on top of one of the paper towels.
      • Can leave the stems on or pluck them off
      • Can pull the flower petals or press them individually or do them whole.
   3. Carefully close the book.
3. Lay a heavy weight (at least 20 lbs) on top of the book.
4. After 1 week, carefully open the book and remove the paper towels.
   • Leave the flowers in the book, now pressed against the pages.
   • Doing this will help prevent mold growth.
5. After 3-4 more weeks, the flowers should be dry enough to use.