How to Make Botanical Pressed Flower Bookmarks
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If you have been searching for an easy to make floral craft, then I am thrilled to share this pressed flower bookmark tutorial with you. These pressed flower bookmarks are a perfect craft for those who enjoy nature, collecting flowers, and book lovers of all kinds. This is an age-old craft that is so simple, all you need are a few items that are most likely already tucked inside of your craft cabinet. You can be as creative and free with the design as you like, and I will share with you how I put this simple botanical craft together. Pressed flower bookmarks make beautiful handmade gifts, are a meditative activity for those with overactive imaginations, and is easy enough for children to make.
an old-fashioned edwardian craft:
The first I ever heard about making pressed flower bookmarks was in the American Girl Doll craft book for Samantha! I made this craft a long, long time ago with my mom when I was a young girl. It was so fun! I have pressed flowers all my life, and it brings me so much joy when I come across one that I have pressed from years ago. I often forget that I have them tucked away inside of the pages of an old book. Then, when I come across the book years later, a lovely little flower will pop out. I have found many a flower inside of thrifted books, too!
The Victorians and Edwardians absolutely loved incorporating flowers into all of their daily activities, including crafting. This would have been an incredibly simple and affordable craft for young girls to work on and share as a gift with their friends and loved ones.
printable artwork for your bookmarks:
Before you begin crafting your pressed flower bookmark, you may want some botanically inspired artwork! For these photos, I used our new Dandelion Flower Fairy art prints and ephemera to decorate my bookmarks. You can simply download this artwork to your computer and print it out at home.
By purchasing our artwork, you can help to support us as independent artists. We thank you so much for your support!
gathering supplies for making pressed flower bookmarks:
To begin making your handmade pressed flower bookmarks with layers of beautiful papers and colorful dried flowers, you will need to gather a few key supplies:
Flower Press. You don’t need an official flower press to press flowers, but it can come in handy! There are various ways to press flowers, including with a clothes iron. For the simplest way, you can simply place the flowers in wax or parchment paper in between the pages of a heavy book. Pressing flowers with a press or a book can take several days or weeks before the flowers are ready to use!
Scissors.
Pressed Flowers.
Printed Papers. There are so many lovely printed papers that you can find at the craft store or online! We also have some lovely options for original artwork papers in our Valentine’s Day Tea Party Ebook.
Ephemera. The ephemera that I used for these bookmarks are a part of our Dandelion Flower Fairy Prints.
Paintbrushes.
Hole Punch.
Ribbon.
pressing flowers:
Pressing flowers is a simple art form that you can accomplish with ease! First, of course, you will need to find some flowers to press. I love to press the flowers from any bouquets that I purchase. We used to sell flowers on our farm, so I am a big fan of growing flowers, too! In the spring, some beautiful flowers to press would be roses, daffodils, lilacs, hyacinth or grape hyacinth, dianthus (carnations), ranunculus, lavender, and tulips.
I love using this flower press, which comes with all of the supplies that you need to get started! You can read my tutorial on how to press flowers to learn more.
how to make a pressed flower bookmark:
Step One: First, determine the size of your bookmark. Most standard bookmarks are 2 x 6-inches (5 x 15-cm) or 2 x 8-inches (5 x 20-cm). With your heavy cardstock, trace and cut out your bookmark to the dimensions that you prefer. I actually used a label from a product that I recently bought as my template.
Step Two: Cut out your printed papers to the size of your bookmark. With the glue, paint it onto the bookmark template and then cover with your papers. You can layer these as much as you like. You may also want to cover the backside!
Step Three: Add any ephemera or other paper elements like paper doilies to your bookmark. Layer these pieces with glue.
Step Four: With your pressed flowers, paint the glue onto the backside and press it with some force onto your bookmark. Then, paint over the top of the flower generously with the glue.
Step Five: Let the bookmark completely dry. This can take a few minutes to several hours. My bookmarks took about 30 minutes to fully dry. If you want to speed up the process you can lay them on a wire cooling rack and/or gently dry them with a hair dryer.
Step Six: When your bookmarks have dried fully, punch a hole into the top of your bookmark with a hole punch. Then, thread a piece of ribbon or lace through the hole. Tie it into a slip knot and pull tight.
final thoughts:
This easy to make craft with dried flowers is my new favorite way to display the flowers from my bouquets and garden! I love pressing flowers, but then I am left wondering what to do with them. This is such a great craft for children to make as it is wonderful for sensory play and simple to accomplish. These are also wonderful gifts to give to others to spread the joy of the season and your garden for years to come! I hope that you enjoy making these adorable pressed flower bookmarks at home.
xoxo Kayla
