How to press flowers in only 10 seconds!

Hello creative friends! Today I have a quick and easy tutorial for you, I will show you how to press flowers in only 10 seconds! Pressed flowers are really beautiful to include in all sorts of creative projects but if following the more classic way of pressing them between the pages of a book, the whole process could take a few days up to a few weeks. And since we don’t usually have too much time to wait, a quick and easy method is always good to have on our sleeve! Depending on the flowers you are using, this 10 seconds technique will allow you to beautifully preserve some of the shapes and the colors of your flowers!

To make things easier for you I’ve conducted a few experiments to see if fresh lavender flowers can be quickly pressed and I’m happy to report the answer is YES! :) I’m using this quick technique to almost instantly press flowers using an item that we all have in our household – the good old iron! We will also need an old book for this – or a new one if you don’t mind the stains from the flowers and some blank regular printing paper. You could also use your upcycled book turned into a chic French flower press, if you’ve already tried that project!

The book is not randomly picked here, the pages of the book will act as an improvised ‘sponge’ and will help you while removing the water content from your flowers.

How to press flowers in only 10 seconds

I’m trying this 10 seconds technique using lavender today but of course, you can try this with other flowers too. Some will work better than others depending on their shape, their volume, their colors and their water percentage.

1. Start by placing your fresh lavender sprigs between the pages of a book.  Don’t overlap the flowers, leave some space between them so you can perfectly press and flatten them.
2. Fold a regular blank printing paper in half and place it on top of your flowers. Heat your iron, then use up and down motions to apply a lot of pressure on the flowers for about 10 seconds. The white blank page will also act as a sponge to draw some of the water content out and will protect your iron from staining.
3. Carefully lift the white paper, then check to see how the flowers are looking. If the flowers have a lot of volume, you might need to do this a few times to remove all the moisture. Work in 10 seconds increments until fully satisfied! :)

Just keep in mind that other flowers will yield different results, depending on their shape, volume, color and water percentage!

The 10-second pressed lavender flowers will become flat and will lightly change their color from purple to more of a blue hue. Here you can better see a side-by-side comparison. The lavender flowers on the left are fresh and the ones on the right are already pressed using this 10 seconds technique.

Such an easy and quick technique with such amazing results, don’t you think? The level of pressure that you apply while ironing the flowers along with the time that you actually spend ‘pressing’ them will determine the dryness of your final flowers. When it comes to lavender, because they are such small flowers, it’s OK if you are not pressing them all the way through. I love leaving a little bit of that amazing essential oil in so that the flowers will further dry on their own and gradually release their fragrance. It really depends on what project you are planning on using the flowers, but if you are thinking about using them to embellish your journal or make some floral tags or cards for example, that gradually released scent will be such a unique touch!

You will be amazed to discover that the essential oils in the lavender will imprint into the book pages while pressing and ironing them and will heavenly scent your entire room. This instant fragrance will be absolutely sensational!

You can include the pressed flowers in many creative DIY projects, we are only limited by our imagination while using these! Try finding unique ways of using them to create vintage tags, bookmarks, birthday cards, junk journals and floral artwork frames, the sky is the limit.

I hope you will give this 10 seconds technique a try, next time I will give you an idea on how to use the pressed flowers to create these gorgeous DIY Transparent Lavender Bookmarks with a vintage vibe.

Don’t forget to smile,
Diana

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