Working for a company that uses pressed flowers on many of its products was never my plan. I didn’t even want to do secretarial work, but here I am 27 years later still here.
Over those 27 years I learned about pressing flowers for a commercial business. Yet I still had the flowers from proms, weddings, or just finding a cool flower tucked away in books at home. When I was young pages were spotted with yellow or red where I had just squished them into a book in a rush, but as I got older they were gently laid between tissue paper only to be found and wondered where or for what purpose they had been preserved. In school we pressed flowers on wax paper and sealed them with an iron to give our mothers flowers for Mother’s Day.
The commercial process for pressing flowers is not complicated by any means. First flowers are picked after the dew is off them in the morning because if they are damp the flowers will get spots. You need paper, preferably with no printing, but newspaper is fine for some flowers. Sometimes the print will transfer to white or yellow flowers from newspaper, not a pretty site. Sheets of felt help absorb moisture, some boards to lay the sheets of paper between and then either a vise type press device or a heavy rock. Leave the flower in the press for a few days and you have pressed flowers. It is not rocket science but it works.
Our commercial pressed flowers are glued onto sheets with printed floral background designs. We then laminate them and trim or die-cut the sheets to be used for our unique products. Because no two flowers are ever exactly alike, products are never exactly alike. If you would like to see our full line of lovely unique real pressed flower products go to www.cgfloralgifts.com
I think I will see if I have any waxed paper when I go home, get the iron out, get my granddaughter off her phone, go pick some flowers and teach her how to make a flower gift for her mom, that will elicit some eye rolls I’m sure.