Pressed Flowers from Riverhaven Virginia G. McKinnon Email: virginia@riverhaven.com

Materials List for Beginners

You will need:
Almost everything you will need to press your first flowers and make a greeting card can be found in the home.  The most likely item you may need to purchase is a good pair of tweezers.  I consider them my most important tool.   When you buy a pair, they should be good quality steel, about 4 1/2" long so the top rests in the palm; mine have been ground so they are needle-sharp.  When a flower has been pressed, it is as fragile as a thin sugar cookie;  handling with tweezers is less likely to cause damage than fingers might.

To protect your picture on its card, you will need a small roll of clear adhesive film, such as "Contac."  Most supermarkets stock this for covering cook books and recipes.

Static electricity is formed when the backing is pulled away from the plastic film.  That  static can cause your flowers to reach up to meet the adhesive when applying the film to the card.   To help counteract that possibility, crumple a fabric softener sheet (the kind made for the clothes dryer) and rub all over the plastic side before removing the backing

An old phone book to be your press

Scrap computer paper  good one side, between which to press flowers

Gallon jug of water, well stoppered, for a weight

A trayor board to place between the phone book press and water jug,  to distribute the pressure evenly.

Tweezers for handling pressed material

Glue, white household, that dries clear

Toothpicks, to apply glue

Razor blade, single edge,  to trim plastic coating

Scissors, small

Card stock

Contact adhesive film, to protect design

Fabric softener sheet. to counteract static

 

Office supply stores stock extra smooth paper (for use with color printers,)  sometimes packaged with matching  envelopes.  Some of this is heavy enough to use for flower cards.  8 1/2" x ll" paper when folded twice , or half a sheet folded once, will fit invitation size envelopes  (4 3/8" by 5 3/4").  The card or paper needs to be rigid enough to keep the flower arrangement from cracking.

I often buy 85 pound paper at an "American Speedy Printing Center ."  They stock it for their business cards.  It is available in various textures and shades.  Measuring 8 1/2" by 11", it can be cut in half to make two single fold cards; they cut it for me.  Currently it is less than ten cents a sheet.  In quantity of 250, the matching invitation size envelopes cost about seven cents each.  Perhaps they would sell a smaller number.   I try to shop for this material at their least busy time, feeling that what I need is of nuisance value to them, and  a courtesy to me.

Single edge razor blades can be found where craft supplies are sold.

 

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