Pressed Flower Frame

By jenlin

Ingredients

• see below

Preparation

Step 1

Making this is easy to do. We used pansies because they are colorful, inexpensive and easy to find, but any flower could be used. Just note that the drying time may vary.

To dry: Cut the blossom and stem pieces from the plant. Next, fold a standard 8 1/2-by-11-inch piece of paper in half and arrange the flowers and leaves (in a single layer) inside the paper. Close the fold and gently press. Place a doubled paper towel on a microwave-safe plate and the flower-filled paper on top. Top that with another doubled paper towel and place a microwave-safe pie plate (or other heavy glass plate) on the stack; using both paper and paper towel wicks away the moisture quickly for fast drying. Microwave on 50 percent power for 90 seconds. You will need to do this about 3 times, carefully lifting the paper to check for dryness between each cycle. If your flowers are not dry after 3 rounds, keep going in 90-second bursts until they are.

Once your flowers are dry, you're almost ready to arrange them in your favorite frame. Pre-cut a piece of plain paper so that it fits inside the frame. Before you glue the flowers to the paper, have the little ones write a personal message for mom at the bottom of the paper. Now you can use your fingers or tweezers to carefully remove the flowers and leaves from the microwave paper and arrange them on the paper for the frame. Use a hot glue gun (set to the lowest temperature setting) to secure. Finally, layer with the glass and insert into the frame. That's all it takes!