craftgrrl | Construction of my Flower Press (Reply)

During my LOOOOOONG post yesterday, I posted some pictures of my pressed flower work.

Someone asked me how I pressed out my flowers so well, so I figured I'd show my press off and give a brief description of how it was made...

it's pretty simple and basic and if you've got scrap wood laying around your garage (that's where I found mine) and the desire to press flowers well, this is what you need!

Necessary Hardware:

I recomend(sp?) 1/4 inch screws, washers and wingnuts.

Starting with two large boards, about 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick, we cut them evenly on all sides and then sanded down the edges that could potentially give splinters or catch on clothing or furniture fabric.

With a handheld drill, we put in 1/4 inch holes on each corner about one inch from the edge (best to do this with both boards stacked on top of one another so they line up properly).

(I painted my holes and my hardware so they always matched up with the right holes--for some reason they go best into these holes)

Separate boards to open

Insert several layers of plain printer paper, newsprint, acid free archival quality paper, whatever type paper you desire, flowers flattened out with stems removed, larger portions pressing separately, etc... several MORE layers of paper...

Put screws into holes. It's also best to work them around in the holes a few times to gauge the holes a bit larger (or use a larger bit--but not too much larger. I didn't have the next size up.)

Place washers over screws, then wingnuts.

When pressing larger flowers, it's said that you should do it gradually, cranking the wingnuts as far as they'll go (without too much resistance) the first day, and each additional day adding a bit more pressure until it's as tight as possible. And of course, keep it flat the entire time.

I don't do that. I do it all at once, which could be why my larger flowers don't press so well.
Maybe I'll listen to the professionals next time.

And that's my handy dandy flower press. It's large enough and heavy enough to press a multitude of plantlife at once but you have to make sure not to layer it too much or things with harder pieces or larger pieces can press into thinner plantlife or cause mold from too much moisture (if you look closely, there's a little mold spot on the inside of each of my boards--oops).

And I don't even really have to keep it put away. It's small enough to fit onto my little refrigerator I keep bottled water in.