This is such a lovely way to spend a weekend.
Firstly, gather what you need. you'll need a small pair of scissors, a small container for collecting flowers, some newspaper and a flower press. If you don't have a flower press, you can make one, with 2 pieces of thick ply, and some wing nuts, or you can place the flowers into a book, close it over and put a heavy item on top.
A note on picking wildflowers. Wildflowers are an integral part of the landscape, and care and responsibility should be taken to ensure that you are only taking common flowers, and only from eco-systems you are familiar with.
I use the 1 / 20 rule. If there are 20 plants, I will pick flowers from one.
The best place to start is in your garden. Give it a try, you might be surprised! In our garden, we have daisies, bluebells, forget-me-nots, buttercups, red clover and fuschia (that's my excuse for not mowing!). If you've nothing in your garden, try local parks, and green strips on your road. Please be responsible, anything that looks like it's been planted, or tended to, belongs to someone! If you're unsure whether something is uncommon, use an identifier app before picking. Finally, please only pick what you will actually use, and check your local by-laws first.
Once you've got your flowers, you can start to press them. There's a myriad of way and everyone has a preference. Mine is sheets of newspaper, 6-10 pages between layers. Place your wood down, then newspaper, then lay your flowers out - leave them plenty of space. Place more newspaper on top, and keep on layering. Once you're done, pop the top piece of wood on, and secure with wing nuts, or a velcro strap. You should change the paper every 2-3 days.
The flowers should be ready anywhere between 1 and 4 weeks. You'll know they are ready when they feel papery, and they feel 'warm'. A cool or cold feeling flower is not ready and should go back in!
Once you're happy they are pressed and ready, you are ready to use them! Display them in a floating frame for your wall or desk, or carefully glue them onto blank card to make your own greeting cards. You could put them into a scrapbook, or you can send them to us to encase into resin!
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