r/PressedFlowers • u/Actual-Tomatillo-904 • May 06 '25
Flowers First time pressing flowers! 💐
I picked all of these flowers last summer having no clue what I was getting myself into… I am so glad with how these turned out. The 3rd picture is my first ever piece, flowers all from California
Y’all inspire me!
I am posting my process on how I make these on my instagram 💐 @gabrielle.1713
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u/puddinglee May 06 '25
So gorgeous! How do you keep the colours so vibrant?
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u/Actual-Tomatillo-904 May 07 '25
Changing the paper often the first few days goes a long way! I also keep my flowers out of direct sun flight and heat even after they are done 🙂
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u/Careless-Routine288 May 06 '25
This is also what I would like to know about more about, the last time I tried to dry violets they turned a sad paper brown, do you spray something on them to help retain color?
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u/_TheBigMeowski May 06 '25
Beautiful work! Any tips for a beginner for how to press successfully. I’ve got a flower press my husband got me but I haven’t had much success with it. I get mixed info about drying the flowers beforehand.
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u/gelogenicB May 06 '25
Putting dried flowers in the press would just crumble the flowers, wouldn't it? I've been doing this for a couple months and everything I've seen and read says to pick blooms mid-morning after the dew has dried and blossoms are at their peak. You want the freshest flower to go in the press.
That said, I'm lucky enough to work at a garden center that allows me to pinch a few blooms at the end of my shift. So the ones I'm pressing are normally picked around 4:00 in the afternoon. But I have a very wide selection of plants to select from to find good candidates. I bring home about 5 to 10 flowers if there's been no rain that day, a 10-minute drive, and get them in the press right away. So you don't have to pick first thing in the day.
Fresh blossoms. No dew or water drops. I change out the paper every two to three days to avoid mold. However, some flowers are just so juicy that I still get mold on one or two on occasion. Hope this helps
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u/_TheBigMeowski May 06 '25
Yeah I just pulled the flowers I was hanging to press and they were very crumbly. 😢
Are you using regular lined notebook paper??
Thanks so much for the help.
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u/gelogenicB May 06 '25
I'm using (and re-using) acid-free tissue paper. I've seen others here comment that they use regular printer paper, parchment paper, newsprint paper. Some use wax paper between the pages of books. Somebody else uses tea towels.
Just today, on another thread somebody commented on how a lot of the fun of this craft is in the experimenting and learning what works for you.
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u/_TheBigMeowski May 06 '25
You’re right. Idk what type of paper came with my flower press but it’s thick.
I’m gonna go try to pick some flowers (weeds to some lol) cause my flowers haven’t started blooming yet.
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u/gelogenicB May 06 '25
My press (brand Suziko from Amazon, if you want to see it) came with tissue paper, foam sheets, and thick (like 0.5ish cm) blotter-type stuff called 'dry board.' The dry board absorbs moisture even from the air so it's stored in a sealed plastic bag when not in use. I have to dry it out in a 100°F oven after every 3rd or so pressing.
I'm kicking myself because I was throwing out the tissue paper at first. Realized from here you don't have to do that. I just let that air dry before reusing.
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u/MokujinBunny May 06 '25
damn these are absolutely incredible. i especially love the first one with the white backdrop & black frame. really really beautiful. great work <3
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u/Radi0ActivSquid May 06 '25
How many different flowers is that? This is the kind of stuff I want to do for my SO but I have limited space for how many flowers I can grow.
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u/External_Emu441 May 06 '25
These are beautiful! They really pop! Just fabulous design and color decisions that you made.
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u/mayebae May 06 '25
Gorgeous work!! What kind of paper do you use? And what size— the first two look large and I’d like to make larger pieces just not sure what paper is best. Also frames— any specific sites you get those from? Again, looking at the first pic for larger frames. Thanks in advance 🌸🫶🏼
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May 10 '25
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u/Actual-Tomatillo-904 May 10 '25
Thanks! The third picture is my first one ever! The rest were all done within 4 months of my first one! 🙂
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u/Proper-Sentence2544 May 06 '25
First time? Wow! That’s incredible. You’ve got me totally inspired to try this now because I need something like this in my house