DIY Pressed Plants

Bring fresh flowers or herbs into your home with this easy DIY that will capture the feelings of spring for months to come.

Pressing flowers, leaves and herbs has long been a favorite springtime activity. This is a great way to create beautiful custom artwork for your home or get back to nature as a family. Collect leaves in your backyard, gather wild flowers or cut fresh herbs from your garden. With this project, you'll have lots of fun learning about nature with this quick version of pressing plants.

You can press most plants in a matter of minutes using the microwave, vintage books and items from your kitchen. First, gather and cut your favorite flowers or herbs. Just remove any unwanted blemishes, leaves or roots from the plant with scissors. Plants can be pressed with or without the roots.

Next, arrange flowers or herbs face up onto the pages of an old book. If you like, you can sandwich the flowers between a folded paper towel to absorb any moisture. Ensure that the book is not made of any metal like staples before microwaving. Lastly, place the book in the microwave on low for 30-90 seconds. If necessary, lay microwavable plates onto the book to weigh it down. Check the results in 30-second increments to determine if the plant is dried. If you are not short on time, you can press flowers between parchment paper in stacks of books. This process will take about 2-3 weeks.

Materials:

• Flowers, herbs, plants

• Vintage books

• Paper towels or parchment paper

• Masking tape, pencil

• White cardstock

• Picture frames

Once dried, you can display pressed flowers or herbs in a picture frame or journal. First, carefully lay the pressed plant onto cardstock or a blank page. With thin masking tape, adhere the plant’s stem to the paper. Next, label the plant with the common and or scientific name. You can use a plant identification book to identify any unknown plants. Lastly, add the pressed plants into an assortment of picture frames to display in your home.

By Amy Williams