Pressing Flowers in the Microwave

Normally my blog posts are more fauna focused than flora, but today I had a wonderful time pressing flowers. How did I do it? In the microwave!

The inspiration for this project stems from the fact that my kids are on fall break. Our school schedule is more year round which means we have a nice hiatus between each quarter. As a mom, this can present a challenge. My boys, unless otherwise motivated, could quite happily spend two weeks on the couch playing video games. This is something that I just can't accept, so I usually plan some sort of ongoing activity.

The craft I have in mind for this intercession is paper making. It's hands on, but not too girly (I have to worry about these things) and it's also another way to teach recycling. We'll be shredding our junk mail and turning it into something pretty. If the project goes well, we could produce our own holiday cards.

Let's get back to the flowers. While I was shopping for a good paper making kit to get us started, I also discovered The Microfleur. It promised that I would be able to make pressed, dried flowers in just minutes. I liked the idea of being able to decorate our handmade paper with pressed flowers, so I decided to give it a try.

The Microfleur worked perfectly. After a short walk collecting flowers from around the yard and along the common areas of our block, we came home with 11 different flowers. I knew we could dry leaves too, but I decided to stick with flowers for today. The Microfleur press was easy to use and so very kid friendly. After a few trials with my microwave, I found that I could press thin, delicate flowers in 30 seconds and thicker ones with an additional 20 seconds. My son and I pressed all the flowers you see here in less than an hour and that includes the walk we took to collect them.

When I find something that I think is cool, I like to share it. I know that a lot of people use pressed flowers in their crafts. They are so pretty in memory albums and handmade books. I love how quickly and easily you can produce lovely pressed flowers with The Microfleur. The next time you're enjoying nature with the family, not only can you take a few pictures to remember the day, but you can bring home a few flowers or leaves to press for added decoration!