BLOOM: Pressed Hydrangeas

Hydrangeas are definitely one of my favorite flowers but I’ve never been able to successfully get mine to bloom in blue. I know it depends on factors in the soil but whatever I do, I get bright pink blooms. They’re still gorgeous but I do love the look of the blue hydrangeas.

I decided to try pressing some hydrangeas and I couldn’t be happier with the results. Do you know why?

Once I pressed the hydrangeas, my pink blooms had dried purple-blue. Amazing!

Pressing and drying flowers is super easy. You just need to be patient and you can’t expect to use the flowers right away. My flowers were in the press for a week. Here are the steps to get perfectly pressed flowers.

1. You’ll get the best results with flat, delicate flowers. Pansies, hydrangeas and small wild flowers look great pressed. Roses… not so much.
2. Pick your flowers and lay them carefully in between the pressing blotting papers.
3. Place cardboard below and above the blotting papers.
4. Place all of the above in your press and cinch the straps as tight as you can.
5. I’ve found placing heavy books or a weight on top of the press gives you even better results.
6. Don’t have a flower press? Two pieces of wood work just as well. Use coffee filters as blotting paper. Just don’t use bumpy or textured paper like paper towels. The texture will press into your flower.

Once your flowers are pressed and completely dried, glue or Mod Podge them onto your paper. To preserve the flower, I added a layer of Mod Podge over the flower.

Aren’t they pretty? I can’t wait to press some more!

Thanks so much for stopping by.