Want to preserve the beauty of your summer garden when the cooler months arrive? Pressing your fresh flowers is a great craft to keep flowers gorgeous throughout the year.

Materials

• 1 fresh flower
• 2 sheets cardboard (cut to any size larger than your flower)
• 2 tissues

• 2 sheets acid-free paper (almost all plain computer paper is acid-free)
• 1 heavy book (like a phone book or an encyclopedia)

Instructions

1. Give some thought to how you want your flower to look. Remove any extra or very thick petals.

2. Place 1 sheet of cardboard down on a flat surface.

3. Place 1 sheet of acid-free paper on top of the cardboard.

4. Place 1 tissue on top of the acid-free paper.

5. Place your flower atop the tissue.

6. Place 1 tissue on top of the flower.

7. Place 1 sheet of acid-free paper on top of the tissue.

8. Place your second piece of cardboard on top of the paper.

9. Cover your stack with a heavy book; you can even place a large rock or brick on top of your book if you feel it isn't heavy enough.

10. Leave your flower to press for about 2 weeks.

Tips

• Pick your flower when it is fresh.
• If you want to press multiple fowers, simply repeat the method above, stacking each combination one on top of the other, and until place your heavy book atop the whole stack.