There are so many reasons to love Summer. Seeing the sun after months of gloom, freshly-squeezed lemonade, and picking flowers. When I was a child, my grandmother taught me how to save these flowers so we could enjoy them all year long. My grandmother also canned seasonal produce and made jam and jellies, so it wasn’t too surprising that she’d find another way to save her present so she could savor it later.
Pressed flowers have been found around for centuries. According to a Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/29/AR2006062901769.html?noredirect=on) article, archaeologists discovered pressed laurels and garlands in the 3,000-year-old coffin of Tutankhamun’s mother. In 16thcentury Japan, artisans developed Oshibana, the art of pressing flowers to make a complete picture.
A few centuries later, Victorian England picked up this art form. Victorian women and men of all ages filled scrapbooks with different types of pressed flowers and herbs, often adding bits of ribbon and other trimmings.
In the early 1990s, there was a resurgence in the art of pressed flowers after Nobuo Sugino traveled the world to collect these Victorian pressed flower collections. In 1997, Mr. Sugino published “The International Pressed Flower Book” that encouraged people of all ages to try this simple-yet-lovely hobby.
The great thing about pressed flowers is that because it’s so easy and inexpensive, it’s a perfect thing for kids to do. Here are some basic directions for pressed flowers novices.
Step 1: Pick the flowers when they’re at their freshest and completely dry.
Step 2: Press flower between two sheets of wax paper, then place within the pages of a large book (I use an old Encyclopedia Britannica). Leave 1/8-inch of pages between flowers being pressed. When the book is full, close it and weigh it down for four weeks.
Step 3: After four weeks, check the flowers to make sure they’re dry. Some herbs and flowers may take longer, depending on their thickness and how much moisture they had on them.
Step 4: Glue the flowers into a scrapbook in whatever design you like!
There are much more advanced ways of making pressed flowers, some that include expensive equipment, dyes, and chemicals. But for a quick and fun way to preserve some of Summer’s beauty, try pressing a few of your favorite flowers between an old book. Next winter, when you’re wondering if you’ll ever see the sun again, you can pull out your scrapbook and remember that the flowers will always return.
