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Here is a tutorial on how to dry flowers inside books. Pressing your own flowers in books is a brilliant way to preserve them so that you can enjoy their beauty any time of the year.
Pressed and dried flowers make good accents for artwork and sitting a few in a small vase on a desk or nightstand adds a special touch, especially if the dried flowers are from your own garden.
You don't have to look very far to see that there are a ton of ways to use them. Dried flowers can be used for card making, decoupage, journaling, and gift wrapping.
When drying or pressing flowers in books, start with clean flowers that are completely dry. It's ok to have small blemishes on the flowers but discard any flowers that are too far gone.
The best time to collect flowers is on a sunny day later in the afternoon so that any rain or dew will be totally dried. You can also pat them dry with a paper towel if you notice any wet parts.
If you are drying flowers that are special, like part of a wedding bouquet, then you will want to use archival acid-free paper instead of parchment.
Using acid-free paper helps stop any breakdown of the flower, as well as help preserve the color a bit better.
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Gather your flowers and discard any flower petals or parts that are rotting or coming off of the original stem.
If you are drying flower petals, pick off the best petals and set them aside. It's ok to use flowers that are not perfect.
Cut waxed paper, parchment or acid-free paper larger than the book that you are going to use to press them in.
You will want to make sure that when you fold the parchment in half, it will cover the whole page of the book.
Place the flowers onto the paper you are using, making sure that the flowers are not touching.
This is important because if the flowers are touching or too close, they will not dry properly.
Close the book and place heavy books on top of it to weigh it down.
Let your flowers sit for three weeks. You will know that they are completely dry and pressed when they feel just like paper.
Here's what dried flowers will look like in about three weeks.
Watch our easy video tutorial on how to dry flowers inside books.
1. Choose the right flowers: Select flat and thin flowers like daisies, pansies, violets, or fern leaves, as they press more easily.
2. Use absorbent paper: Place the flowers between sheets of absorbent paper, such as blotting paper, parchment paper, or the pages of an old book.
3. Prepare the book: Find a heavy book with clean, dry pages, ideally an old one you don't mind dedicating to this purpose.
4. Position the flowers: Arrange the flowers on a page of the book so that they don't overlap, and place them between two sheets of absorbent paper.
5. Be patient and check regularly: Pressing flowers can take varying amounts of time, so check regularly to see if they are fully dried and pressed before removing them from the book for crafting or decoration.
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You can also dry flowers in the microwave with a Microfleur.
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