An Experiment

This past August I gathered up a little posy from the Tank Garden and wondered if it would work to press the whole little bouquet as is.  I dry full gatherings together all of the time.  But, when I press flowers, I press the blossoms individually.  I grabbed this old piece of wood I had out of the barn, thinking that if it worked I'd have the display backing in place. 

I layered on a few paper towels and another piece of wood on top,  then weighted it down with books, and left it in my laundry room.  I checked it in a couple of weeks, and thankfully, I did because I realized that it would mold if not put out to dry completely.  That is the downfall with the layering, it will mold before it dries if you let it go like you do pressed flowers.  The flowers were nice and flat and the drying had begun, so I put it out in the sun to fully dry.

Then it went back in the laundry room on a shelf  to wait (and wait some more) for me.  

After all the Christmas activity, was able to glue it down.  I gently disassembled it, then used mod podge generously to very gently glue it all back in place.  Then again, this time with waxed paper on top and just a light towel to give it some weight, it was set to dry for a bit.  I then removed the wax paper and towel about a day later and let it finished drying.

I decided to give it a coat of spray finish to darken the colors in the flowers as they fade a bit when they are pressed and dried. 

I wish I would have drilled holes in the board so I could hang it with twine. I still may take the chance of taking a drill to it.  The flowers are adhered firmly, but they are only pressed flowers, so it's pretty fragile.  I'm really pleased how it turned out and expect to press more little bouquets this summer.

This isn't exactly a January decoration!  But, it makes me long for spring and gardening.

The first garden catalog came last week.  Yes!