How to Make a Plant Press
Pressing plants is a fun spring activity! Read below to learn how to make your own plant press at home.
Materials
- Cardboard
- String or rubber bands
- Paper
- Scissors
The first step is to cut your cardboard. You can choose how big you want your plant press to be. It can be big or small, but in the end you need 2 pieces of cardboard that are the same size.
Next you will cut your paper so that it fits into your plant press. You can start with a few pages and always add more as needed.
The third step is to collect plants or flowers to use in your plant press.
You can collect from
- Your yard
- Your friend’s yard (with permission)
- Local city park.
You cannot collect from
- Someone else’s property without permission
- State parks
Please follow the rules of where you collect and make sure it is okay to collect from the area you are visiting.
Tip: Flat petals and leaves work best, bulky flowers do not make the best pressed flowers.
After you have collected your plants or flowers for pressing you will place one piece of cardboard down and a piece of paper on top. Then place the plants down on the paper and place another piece of paper on top. You can repeat this process and have multiple sets of pages with plants on them. At then end you will place the 2nd piece of cardboard and secure it all together using string or rubber bands.
In a few days you can open up your plant press to check on them! (some plants might take a bit longer to fully dry and press).
Do you notice any changes? Which plant changed the most?
Download Activity Instructions or follow along with our instructional video:
How to Make a Plant Press
Flowers are fleeting, but you can make them last for years by pressing them. In this video, you can learn how to make your own plant press to preserve flowers or plants for years to come. You can also use pressed plants for a variety of art projects, such as making cards, collaging, or encasing them in resin!
