Laminating and Protecting Pressed Flower Arrangements 

Love hearing this from one long term presser to another:-) May favorite part, among others, is the moment I peek at the results and see how they turn out. Sometimes is takes my breath away. And I love to create with them.

Thank you for the comment. Yes it can be a challenge taking pictures and I really don't have a set process. I have a couple of different cameras so it all depends... Good idea, Em

The framed pictures are using dry, pressed flowers, so last for many years. I have some pictures that are twenty or more years old. The colors will fade or mellow over time. Often I will color enhance to give them longer color staying power, but even vintage pictures can still be pretty:-)

Hi Beth, appreciate the comment. Must admit, I am not sure what you mean. Can you give me a little more detail. For example what are you going to use the arrangement for (ie: card, hang on the wall, bookmark, magnet...), what kind of background are the flowers on, how large is the design, etc. Thanks, Em

@@emsplace Thank you for answering. Sorry I was not more specific. The pressed flowers/leaves are glued on copy paper that has been printed with a muted background and pressed flat. After laminating, they will be cut out to fit nicely on 4.25" X 5.5" cards made out of cardstock. I wish I could send a picture. There are pansies, penstemons, hummingbird mint, forget me nots, single lilac blossoms, and petals from Indian Paintbrush, roses and squash blossoms, some stems...The cards are accompanying a flower press I made for each of my granddaughters, and so the design is a sample of what they could use pressed plants for. After I made the designs I realized how difficult it might be to get laminate to stick to the little spaces between flowers. I have made some sample designs to practice with different laminates, but I wonder which would be best to form around each flower and stem?

Hi Beth, that does help and sounds beautiful! Three things come to mind at the top of the list: A) Contact paper which is what I usually use. I put it over the entire arrangement panel - however when I make an arrangement I always be sure there is some blank space between the edge of the paper/card and the start of the arrangement. That way the contact paper has something to adhere to. It covers the arrangement for protection and you wouldn't need to worry about any little spaces in the arrangement itself, IMHO. Ditto for cold laminates. I just like the contact paper because it is a more satin finish. I like the Magic Cover brand the best. B) Hot Laminate which usually gives a glossier finish but needs heat to set (machine is best but I have also used an iron or heat press). This will usually take care of any small areas in the arrangement. C) Acetate which would only be glued around the edge. If you do that then a top card stock with an opening could be used to hide the glue around the edge. Think of a picture that would have glass over the flowers with a mat on top of the glass. In this case the acetate is the glass in how I am explaining the way to tier/layer things. Really, just find what you like to cover the entire arrangement and not worry about any little spaces in-between - but hot laminate would hug things the most if it is a concern:-) I cover this subject in detail in this video ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ItL0Q4TvHV4.html Hope this helps:-) Em

@@emsplace It helps immensely!! Thank you so much for taking the time to answer. Your videos are fabulous aids. Today I watched the one that concentrated on contact paper and the one that concentrated on hot laminate. Sooo helpful to see the trials you do with each! I have ordered both the Magic Cover and the hot laminate (which I will have to iron on). I also appreciate the satin quality of the contact paper and hope it works! Meanwhile I am working through the rest of your videos and find gems of help in every one!

Hi, pressing items that are not filled with water and rotating the paper sandwiches into dry books during the process. Some botanicals are so wet they will not make it through. The ones I show in my pressing and peeking videos and also talked about in the garden playlists work well for me. Trial and error is the best way to find out:-)

Hi Danielle, not sure I understand the question:-) If you want to put the pressed flowers in a frame under glass I don't put anything on top of the flowers because the glass will protect them. To apply the flowers to the background I just spot glue using Elmer's Glue All in the areas where the parts join the stems to hold them in place. If this isn't what you are thinking about please let me know more details to understand better what you hope to acomplish. Thank you for watching, Em

Hello Em, do you know what professionals might use to spray over their pressed bouquet after glueing before framing? For example, do you recommend spraying an acrylic spray? Or does the adhesive and glass from the frame protect the flowers from UV light and browning? Thank you in advance 😊

Hi Adriana, thank you for the kind words. Color retention depends upon the flowers. Some last only a short while and some, for example buttercup, last many years. I also have a video about color enhancement (pressed flower art) on my channel you may find interesting.The covering on flowers doesn't really save the color that much unless it is a UV resistant finish - which may help a little. Keeping flowers out of direct sunlight is important. It depends upon what you want to do. If you make a card, for example, to be enjoyed for a short time it is not really a worry. If you make a framed picture to display on the wall it may be nice to have the color last longer. If you look at my "peeking" videos or pressing flower videos, most of the flowers I press tend to hold good color for awhile. I stopped pressing really fast fading flowers, for the most part, a long time ago. So check that out. But really, just the joy of pressing the flowers and seeing how they turn out is half the fun. Experiment and enjoy!

I see! That's true, it is fun to when i peek at my pressed flowers and finding out whether the colour has faded or not. Either way, they are still beautiful to look at. Thanks for the advice, I'll check your videos out! :)

Could you use adhesive laminate or self laminating sheets instead of running them through a machine? Will you get as tight of a seal? I found a four leaf clover the other day that I’d like to preserve. It’s being pressed now. Suggestions? I was thinking of gently gluing it to some cardstock and using self laminating pouches to finish it off

You're so talented!