Pressed Wildflowers

Image Gallery

Most everybody knows that weeds and wildflowers can be used in the construction of lovely collages and other works of art (see "Flowers for Framing and Funds", MOTHER NO. 27). But did you know that all kinds of beautiful objects can be created from flowers that have not been sandwiched between the pages of a heavy book until they've become so dry that they crumble?

I'm talking about grasses, leaves, and blooms that are preserved-while still fresh and pliant-with a simple seal of glue and tissue paper. These free-for-the-picking plant snips can grace a note card, a trinket box, or any number of unique framed pictures for your wall . . . and all that's required to preserve them are some inexpensive materials and just a few minutes of your leisure time.

For instance, if you like the idea of sending a letter enfolded within your own personalized, one-of-a-kind notepaper cover . . . start with a good-sized piece of cardboard, a thin-edged metal ruler, some wax paper, some white glue (the kind that's invisible when dry . . . such as Elmer's), and some separated sheets of white tissue paper (the facial kind).

First, on the cardboard, draw an outline of the stationery your covers are meant to enclose. Next (and working on the right-hand half of the outline only so thatwhen each cover is completed and folded like a book-the design will wind up in the proper place), arrange your chosen components into any "practice" design that pleases you. At this point, remove the flowers and leaves, place a sheet of wax paper over the outline, and brush the entire sheet with a half-and-half solution of glue and water. Then spread your wildflowers out on the righthand side of the cardboard again-as you planned themand cover the whole sheet of wax paper with a single thickness of facial tissue.

Paint more glue solution onto the sheet of tissuesaturate the paper until it's nicely wrinkled-and allow the glue to dry. Then press the two sheets of paper (and the plant life between them) with a warm iron, put the bonded sheets back over the cardboard outline, andusing the metal ruler-tear the excess paper off your cover along each of its four edges. Finally, crease the cover through its center (so that the tissue and flowers are on the outside), fold it over its stationery sheet (and glue the two together with several dots of the cement solution), and your piece of handiwork is all ready to be used.