Create a Flower Press

Occasionally I get a bit of a bee in my long-haired bonnet and want to make stuff that is cool and interesting. I had an idea that I would like to make a flower press - something specky. Soooo, I looked online to see what I could find by way of an interesting flower press - something that isn't quite the 'norm'. I initially thought of a wooden press, but they were all pretty much the same in essence.

I came across a pattern for a concertina type press and thought I'd give it a red-hot go! While it is not difficult to make, it took me at least half a day to make (mostly trying to figure out how to do the closure as I didn't go much for the original idea of a VELCRO (gagging right now) option. This is a 'NO SEW'.

As an artist and creator of interesting vintage style ephemera and journals etc. I have collected a number of belts with funky buckles to use as journal closures and came across this beauty below. The buckle on the belt was already themed to a 'floral' context, so it got the gig for this project. However, it took me around an hour to try to work out how to attach it for optimal effect in the flower pressing role. Time will tell how effective it will be as it has an elastic belt for a bit of 'give' (perhaps not ideal for adding pressure to flatten out the flowers). BUT it looks so pretty!

I am also a hoarder of interesting materials, papers, cardboard and all other tidbits related to vintage style journal creation, and of course I had all the other 'ingredients' for this baby ready to rock and roll without having to purchase them - AWESOME!!!

The Front Inside The Concertina

How did I do it you ask?

Step One

Gather your stuff and include:

1. 12 pieces of whatever size cardboard you want for the size of your press. I used a thick card (as seen in the picture above as it was already magically cut it to 8.25inches x 6inches (21cm x 14.5cm roughly) -it can be as large or small as you like - this is your press after all :)

2. Choose a piece of material or fancy paper for the front and back cover (to make it prrty)

3. Cut 9 pieces of material strip the same length as the cardboard and about 2 inches wide - these will be the connectors for the cardboard to enable the concertina.

4. Cut 18 pieces of blotting type or media paper for inserting into the middle of each concertina.

Step Two

1. Glue - I used a glue stick to attach the material to the cardboard for the front and back covers and attached them each to another piece of cardboard with a good clear craft glue (the inside front and back cover)

2. I used four metal corners for the front and back covers, but this is purely decorative (and covers some of the fraying in the corners).

Front Inside Cover Attached Boards Space Between Boards

Step Three

1. I used some vintage photo corners (amongst my hoard) to attach the media paper to each cardboard piece inside the press. You don't have to do this, but I think it looks cool and will keep the paper in place better once the flowers go in.

2. Attach the material strip to two pieces of cardboard leaving an 1/4-inch space between - check out the second and third picture above - you can see the space between each side.

3. Turn the attached two boards over and glue the material strip on the opposite side of the second board and attach another board to the pair - continue doing this until all the boards are used. See the second picture in the row above to see what I mean.

The Closure

You don't need a belt with a fancy buckle - You just need something to go around the press to keep it together and to enable pressure for the flowers to flatten and dry.

I attached (glued) the elastic part of my belt to the back of the press and cut down the elastic to enable the buckle to fit in the centre of the press. Not sure how it will go with pressure but gives enough tightness while keeping in mind that flowers need to be added (this will increase the tightness).

If you have an old leather belt with a cool big buckle you could use it by cutting the leather to fit around the press with the buckle centred at the front - this will probably be a better option than the elastic belt I used!

Not dry yet!

What do you think?

I would love to hear from you if you have any questions or need to clarify any of my meager instructions. I would also love to hear if you give this a go - leave a comment!