Pressed Flowers

I chose to explore flower pressing for my "Become an Expert" project in my Curriculum & Instruction 209 course. Over the semester, I made multiple attempts, and finally achieved my finished product, featured in this instructable. I pressed and dried flowers to preserve them and use them as decoration.

1. Flowers/greenery
2. Scissors
3. Paper towel
4. Parchment paper
5. Large book
6. Weight (dumbbell or extra books)
7. Frame to display finished product

Use flowers that are still alive, anywhere from 4-6 days after purchase (so you can still enjoy them!). This way, they will hold their shape and have more vibrant colors. Select the flowers you want to press. For larger, rounder flowers like cosmos, remove the stem at the base of the flower head. Trim stems for other flowers.

Take a large book, open it to the middle, and lay down a sheet of parchment paper. On top, lay down two layers of paper towel. Add flowers face up, making sure to arrange them evenly and spaced out. Make sure they won't touch each other when the book is closed.

Close the book carefully. Add weight (a dumbbell, more books, or something else that's heavy)! Wait for anywhere between 1 to 2 weeks. Check the paper, and replace as needed if it becomes too damp.

Carefully open book, remove flowers from paper.

Arrange flowers in a frame.