Pressed Flowers: Ideas and projects

Hello! Today on La Violetera's blog, we have ideas for crafts and projects in which you can use your favorite flowers.

To make these crafts, first of all, we need to have our flowers and foliage already pressed.

It's very simple to do; all you'll need are flowers and books.

Once you have your flowers, you'll cut their stems and place them face down inside a book. You can use craft paper / newspaper / recycled paper to avoid staining the book. This is how you'll arrange your flowers and foliage. If the flower is very large, like roses, what I like to do is remove the petals and press them separately, but that depends on how you like it.

 

Once you've arranged your flowers and petals in the books, close them very carefully. Make sure to place a heavy object on top of them so they close tightly and the flowers can be pressed correctly. They will remain there for one week.

Once a week has passed, you will take out your flowers and petals. You will notice that many flowers will have changed color, but that's okay; it's part of the beauty of flowers.

The first project I'm going to show you is super simple.

1. Make a bookmark with flowers.

1. To make this bookmark, all you will need is the following:
2. Thick paper 300 gr. (Watercolor paper, or opalina paper)
3. Pressed flowers, Thread and needle (optional)
4. Hole punch, Ribbon
5. Scissors, White glue, and brush.

Once you have these materials, the first thing you need to do is cut your paper to the size you prefer for your bookmark. Place your flowers, choose the tones you want, and arrange your flowers in a collage form; this works very well with petals. If you have whole flowers, you can use a single flower. Once you have decided where you want your flowers to go, use a brush to apply glue to the back of the flower. Be very careful, as the flower is fragile and can break. Do this with each flower.

What you add next is optional. I like to decorate with drawings around them and put the name of the flower or my name. Something else I enjoy doing to decorate these types of bookmarks is embroidering on paper, using thread and needle to add some embroidery touches to the margin to make it look more original and unique. It all depends on your creativity; don't be afraid to experiment!

For the finishing touch, just punch a hole in the top of your bookmark, and add the ribbon.

And voilà, you have a unique, different bookmark, made by you and with your favorite flowers!

 

 

 

2. Make a picture to hang on your wall.

This idea is great if you have flowers that mean a lot to you, for example, if it was your bridal bouquet, or someone very important to you gave you flowers, and it's something you'd like to keep forever. 

What you need is a white cardstock (or the color you like best). The size depends on how many flowers you have or how big you want the picture to be. 

Once you have your cardstock and your flowers, start by arranging the flowers to your liking. It doesn't have to have a specific order; I like to use this technique depending on the size and color of the flowers, arranging them so everything looks symmetrical. You can even play with shapes, for example, draw a heart, and arrange all your flowers within that shape. Another good idea would be the initial of your name. There are many options and ways to do it. 

Once you have arranged them, use a brush and glue to start gluing them to the cardstock. Let it dry, and once it's ready, it's time to frame it!

One option is to have it professionally framed, and another option is to use a photo frame or an existing frame and repurpose it. And voilà! Your flowers will be framed and remembered forever.

 

2. Make cards.

With flowers, you can also make greeting cards such as happy birthday, happy anniversary, I love you, or even envelopes with your name for gifts.

They are very simple to make!

All we need are envelopes, paper, flowers, and a pen.

First, choose which flowers you want to use for the envelope, place them in a corner, and leave plenty of free space to write your name. Remember that if you are making several envelopes, you don't need to add too many flowers; we don't want it to look too cluttered. Now, use white glue to attach them to the envelope. And now, with the pen, you can draw around the flower to give it a more interesting touch. 

And that's it, just add your name and you're done!

 

And these were all our ideas on how to use pressed flowers. I hope you liked them and can apply them. If you try any of these projects, don't forget to tag me @alelozart and @lavioleterafloreria; we would love to see your projects. 

Thanks for reading, if you liked this post, share it!!!

La Violetera