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You can easily make your own flower press so that you can press flowers, petals, leaves, and other plant matter for use in beautiful crafts.
You can press flowers in the pages of a book (especially a Bible or any big book that has pages that absorb moisture really well) or you can build your own press. With your own press you can decide how big you want it and can easily control the design and use of your press.
Step 1:

Cut two piecies of wood. For this project you can use pine or particle board. You will want it to be 1/4" thick and you will want to cut them square. This will make it easier to fit with cardboard and paper. Also make sure they are both the same size and shape. You can make a really good press up to about 12" by 12". If you are wanting something bigger, make different arrangements to hold it together tight enough. Clamps are one possibility.

Step 2:

Drill four holes. Drill one hole in each corner so that you can screw the press together. Make sure you have four bolts that are going to fit well into your holes (or rather, drill your holes for your bolts).

Step 3:

Cut paper and cardboard to fit your press. It works best if you have a high quality part cotton paper. This should be cut so that it is about 1/2" smaller than your press. You'll need some lightweight cardboard such as that found on the back of a pad of paper, and also some heavy cardboard, which can be gotten from large boxes. Use one heavy cardboard and one lightweight cardboard piece for each layer of plants you wish to press, plus one layer for the bottom. You can do up to six layers of cardboard, paper, and flowers.

Step 4:

Setup. Lay the bottom board on a table. Top that with heavy cardboard, light cardboard, paper, and then any flowers you want (or hold off on the plants). Then add an additional piece of paper and top with light cardboard and then heavy cardboard. Additional layers can be made (paper, heavy cardboard, light cardboard, paper, flowers, paper, and so on). Screw your bolts into the holes and tighten with wing nuts.

This easy-to-make flower press can have you pressing flowers, leaves, and even blades of grass for beautiful craft projects. It isn't hard to make or to use, and you can make it the size that fits you best.

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