Make Handmade Wedding Invitations with Hand Pressed Flowers

There are many ways to make beautiful and unique handmade wedding invitations. In my opinion if you want to give it that really special touch of elegance you've got to use pressed flowers. Some handmade papers already have pressed flowers in them, but what I mean is to use the flowers themselves as the focal point and ornament on each of your invitation cards.

You can buy pressed and dried flowers at many arts and crafts stores, and even online. But be prepared to spend a pretty penny. If you are willing to put in a little work, you can save a substantial amount of money by pressing the flowers yourself.
Pressing your own flowers is really quite simple. Simply pick the flowers you wish to press (flat flowers work the best) and cut them all at the top of the stem to make them as flat as possible. Some flowers need to be taken apart to be pressed, then re-assembled with glue afterwards. You place the flowers between blotting sheets which is basically just thick white absorbent paper and place them in a press for a couple of days until all of the moisture has been pressed out of them.

I bought a flower press for this task but you can also make a press yourself pretty easily. All you need is two pieces of wood only about 1/4" thick and about 6 inches by 6 inches wide or larger. You will also need 4 large bolts (about 2-3 inches long by 1/4") and 4 wing nuts. Just drill a hole in each of the four corners of both pieces of wood. Make sure the holes align perfectly when placed one piece on top of the other.

To press your flowers simply place the petals and buds between two pieces of blotting paper. Alternate by placing two sheets of blotting papers (with flowers in between) with pieces of cardboard. Keep alternating until you have fit all of the flowers you wish to press, or as many as you can comfortably fit.

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