Quick Way to Preserve Your Summer Blooms

Summer will be over soon and so will those beautiful blooms you've enjoyed.  Why not save a little piece of summer and that wonderful memory of pretty flowers by pressing some of those blooms and capturing the last bit of summer .  .  .  perhaps a stunning zinnia that caught your eye, or a few impatiens that exploded with cheerfulness and color, or a group of geraniums that's so perfect for framing! And the easiest and quickest way to preserve those memories is by pressing your own flowers in the microwave, using absorbent paper, two ceramic tiles and rubber bands.  Can you believe it? Normally, it takes several days or maybe weeks to press those lovely beauties in heavy-weighted books, but by using a microwave, it can take less than five minutes!   Here's how:  

It's best to start with fresh flowers.  When picking flowers from your garden, select flowers that are either new blooms or buds about to burst open. Do this in late morning or early afternoon, after the dew has evaporated and no moisture is seen.

Next, place a continuous sheet of two paper towels on top of the smooth side of a ceramic tile.  Then place a sheet of parchment paper on top of the paper towels - enough to fold over and cover the flowers.  Arrange the flowers down on the parchment paper, making sure none of the flowers touch unless you want them to, otherwise they will be stuck together. 

Gently fold over the papers on top of the flowers .  .  .

 and place the smooth side of the second ceramic tile on top.  Secure with two rubber bands .  .  .

 and place in the microwave.  Set at 50% power level for 40 seconds intervals.

When the time ends, turn the tile press over and let it cool off, then microwave again for an additional 40 seconds at 50% power level.

Once done, open the tile press and check to see if there is any moisture on the papers.  You can still see moisture stains on the picture below.

Continue this process again and again - making sure you let the ceramic tiles cool off between times, until you don't see any moisture on the papers and your flowers are dry. It took me less than four minutes to dry these impatiens.

After allowing the flowers to cool off and completely dry, it might be a bit tricky to remove them from the parchment paper, especially if they're impatiens, without pulling or tearing them apart. They are quite delicate, so you'll have to be careful. To do this, lift the paper up and with your fingers, scratch the back of the paper where the flowers are to release them from the paper.  And I seriously don't recommend using wax paper.  The seal was just too strong to remove the delicate petals from the wax paper after drying. 

 The impatiens are so fragile - almost translucent like.

But the zinnias were quite easy to remove  .  .  .

 and the details and colors of the flowers were really fascinating up close.

The colors and hues seem to be a bit more intense and enriched!

 but the geraniums were a bit tricky, too, with a few coming apart.

Once all the flowers are removed from the papers, it's time to frame them.

You can use whatever type of frames you like, but I got three black frames from the dollar store that looked too formal or business like .  .  .

 so I decided to painted them with white chalk paint and let dry.  Not liking the plain looking finish .  .  .

 used the closed blade of scissors, and scratched the edges of the frame to reveal the straight black trim.

Next, placed the flowers on 8"x10" cardstock and once satisfied with the design,

added a dab of tacky glue to the back of the flowers to secure and placed the glass over the design.  Then added the backing and placed in the frame.

Enjoy preserving your beautiful blooms quickly by pressing flowers in the microwave for an everlasting effect .  .  . for so many craft projects!

Thanks for stopping by

and take a little time to enjoy -

Happy Crafting!