Dried flowers are just as beautiful as live flowers.
You heard me right, dried flowers are just as beautiful as those live flowers. They may not be as vibrant in color or smell as lovely, but there is something beautiful about dried flowers. This is even more true when you preserve and save them just right. Laminating flowers is now one of my favorite things to do, like this laminated flowers bookmark.
Laminating dried flowers is more than easy.
I did not realize how easy it was to laminate flowers until I did it for the first time last year. This is my blog post all about laminating pressed flowers: https://thesoutherlymagnolia.com/creating-a-pressed-flowers-gift/ It wasn’t until then did I learn all the tips and tricks to do it just right.
Make sure the flowers are fully dried.
This is super important. If you don’t make sure the flowers are fully dry, the water from the petals will leak during the laminating process. It will cause condensation to form inside of the seal, which is something you don’t want. To make sure your flowers are fully dry, you can either hang dry them upside down for at least a week. The quicker method is to use a hot iron to steam the water out of them.
You just place the flowers that you want to press on top of a towel. Then place a double folded paper towel on top. Gently press a hot iron on top of the paper towels. Make sure not move the iron back and forth. You don’t want to mess up the petals. Just place it directly down and allow it to sit for a few minutes. Another thing to note is that you don’t want the iron setting to be on ‘STEAM’. You want it hot enough right before that setting. You want to remove water, not add it. Continuously check on the flowers to make sure they don’t burn. You will be able to tell when they are done.
Press press and press.
It is important to make sure your flowers are fully pressed, as in flattened. The best way to do this is to lay the flowers (before being dried), onto a flat surface. Place heavy smooth bricks or books on top. I know some have purchased an actual flower press for this step. By pressing the flowers, you are not only making them easier to laminate, but also helping to remove some of the water being stored. The bigger the flower bud, the more water that you will find.
It may take a full day up to 3 days to flatten your flower, depending how large the flower is. The smaller flowers don’t take a lot of work. The ones I used in this post were only flattened for about 30 minutes and then flattened some more with the iron. They were already getting on the dry side, so that made it easier!
Pressed flowers make for beautiful gifts, especially a laminated flowers bookmark.
There are so many things you can do with pressed flowers. A laminated flowers bookmark truly makes for a great gift! We personalized our bookmarks by adding a watercolor painted background to our flowers. This special touch makes it even better for those little hands that can’t manage the laminator. I grabbed this watercolor kit from Target for only $10! The color options are absolutely beautiful too!
If you don’t have a laminator, that is ok. You can always opt for the self sealing laminating sheets! These work well too! The main difference in my opinion is that the material doesn’t get as hard as the actual laminating sheets. I got my laminator from Target last year, and it has been great so far.
Celebrating the ones you love with flowers, dried flowers.
With Mother’s Day around the corner, this would make for a quick and thoughtful gift. You can have the kids go and pick flowers to create their very own bookmarks! My youngest even decided to do another bookmark of just her painted artwork, which is just as great. Anything that gives them the opportunity to be creative and give from their heart.
Supplies used in this post:
I hope you all enjoy this fun crafting idea as much as we do!
Hugs!
