Pressed flower bookmarks

Another beautiful day here, this week is flower week so you may want to pick and press a few more flowers than just the ones for their activity. If you want them to last for a long time, you need to either dry them in the microwave or leave them for at least a week (details below).

You will need: a few small pressed flowers, some card (my children like sparkly card, but ay card will do!), glue, kitchen towel, heavy books (or 1 book and something heavy to go on top). If you have a laminator or sticky back plastic you might also like to use this as it keeps it protected, but it is not necessary.

Turn the card portrait (tall, not wide). Measure 5 cm from the top on both ends. Now cut a straight line between the two ends.

Collect some flowers. Flowers that are already a bit flat, or that will flatten well work best. As they dry, they fade so bright colours are often good too.

Once you are home, get 2 pieces of kitchen towel. Place the flowers carefully front down onto the first piece and cover with the second. Now place the heavy books (or book and heavy objects on top). Now for a bit of patience! You need to leave them for at least an hour, ideally overnight! Once they are flattened, you can dry them in the microwave. Place them on a plate and pop in for 10 second bursts until they feel like dry paper. If you don't have a microwave, you might want to leave them to dry naturally. This takes between 1-2 weeks during hot weather.

Once the flowers are dry, you can create a beautiful pattern on the card and then stick them on. If you have sticky back plastic or a laminator, you might want to use them to stop any peeling, but this is not vital.

Note: this week is flower week here. You might want to pick more flowers than you need and press them, so you have lots ready for all the activities. If you enjoyed this, you might also like our pressed flower lanterns.