Family Paint Night as Art Therapy

I imagine that most of us are going stir crazy at home right about now, and if you're experiencing bad weather as well, our mental health might be suffering a bit. Many folks are exhausted from taking care of others whether you're a first responder, a medical professional, a family caregiver, a grocery store clerk or postal worker.

This might just be the perfect time for a little art therapy. It's a great time to sit quietly by yourself and express your feelings in art or to gather all the kids together to do a family project. Family paint night could be just the thing to bring a little joy right now. For a quick project check out supplies in the links from my shop below.

So go ahead, pick a subject for everyone to paint, or let your imagination soar.

4" square mini canvases are great for adults and kids

3" square mini canvases for that quick project

ACEO Artist Trading Card canvases

Start Pressing Flowers this Spring

I’ve been pressing flowers for many years and have picked up a thing or two about the process in that time. But I've always learned from my failures as well.  So if you don't have immediate success, keep trying and have patience.

If you are just starting out pressing there are some basic guidelines to follow. Always choose the best looking, freshest flowers in your garden to work with. The fresher they are the better the color will be coming out of the press. Pick them when they are dry. Putting damp flowers into a flower press is asking for trouble. The more moisture you start with, the harder it will be to dry your collection quickly for best results. Slow drying flowers will promote mold growth and destroy the beautiful color you are trying to preserve. I like to pick flowers in the late morning in my area of the northeast because the dew is usually dried by that time, but the harsh sun has not had a chance to fade the blossoms yet.

I think my first big failure when I first started to press flowers was lilacs. It was such a disappointment to open the press full of dark brown flowers. Trying to press the whole flower stem was obviously the wrong way to go. Thickness and bulk of flowers has a big effect on how they turn out. I prefer to work with flowers that have thinner petals and centers rather than thick flowers. The thicker the flower, the slower it dries, and if you have humid weather to deal with on top of that you will most likely end up opening a flower press full of moldy, discolored or blackened flowers. I break larger flowers down into smaller components. For example, when I press large roses I separate the petals from the center and press them separately. They can be reassembled when you make your creation and the color will be more vivid. Flowers like hydrangea, which have multiple blossoms on one stem, can often be picked apart and individual florets pressed separately. I usually press individual blooms and smaller stems of the panicle or mophead type hydrangeas rather than the entire flower head. I still don’t have good luck with lilac, but so many other flowers do work well that I’m quite happy with what I have to use.

Some flowers just hold color better than others. No big revelation there, but the trial and error involved in finding out which flowers work best is pretty time consuming. Don’t be discouraged if your beginning efforts don’t turn out as you expected at first. This craft will cultivate patience. For the beginner I would suggest some tried and true options. I’m located in zone 4 so if you are in a warmer climate you may have more or different options than I do in my garden. I almost always have good luck with pansies, forget me nots, pink hydrangea, larkspur and delphiniums, buttercup, lavender, and don’t neglect to press some queen Ann’s lace for a nice white. 

Whether you are using a flower press or books, be sure that you do not overfill it. Again, drying flowers quickly matters. I also try to place my presses in a well ventilated area or use a fan to move the air around. I often place my presses out in the sun on a breezy day to speed the process. Don't forget to bring them in at the end of the day as they will pick up dew overnight.

The most important aspect that I have learned from pressing flowers is how to enjoy nature. You will be up close and personal with your garden more often and learn to appreciate the finer details in nature. You’ll notice fragrances, colors, patterns and textures of flowers that previously went unnoticed. You’ll see insects in a different light. You’ll wait patiently for flowers to open so you can pick them at just the right moment to suspend their life and enjoy them later. 

It is so rewarding to sit on a winter day and open a drawer to pick and choose lovely pressed flowers to use in that next special creation. You might even say "I remember the day I picked this one. What a beautiful summer day that was."

So to recap 

• Pick freshly opened flowers
• Make sure your plant material is dry
• Dry as quickly as possible for best results
• Easy-peasy

My Pressed Flower Journey

My journey into flower pressing began in the early 1980s, and continues today, more than 35 years later. I'm still as  passionate as ever about this wonderful art form and relaxing pastime. Once I tried it, I was immediately hooked. The colors, forms and textures were amazing. Flowers going into a press might not come out the same color they went in, and it’s always a little magical to see the transformation.

My passion began accidentally when I ran out of room for dried flowers. The sheer volume of dried flowers took up much more storage space than pressed flowers. My house and shed were filled with gorgeous dried flowers, and I had no more room to add to my beautiful collection. Each time I saw new blooms that I wanted to keep I felt sad that they would just wither and die, never to be seen again. Then I discovered flower pressing and never looked back.

My husband crafted several large flower presses for me out of plywood, nuts and bolts. They were very functional and did the job. I was off on my new endeavor. I bought some large sheets of blotting paper and cut them to size to fit the presses. I was able to stack 5 or 6 layers in each press separated by sheets of newspaper to wick out moisture and speed the process. That would amount to being able to dry up to a couple of hundred flowers at a time per press. I’m still using those same presses today and can’t begin to imagine how many flowers I’ve processed with them. I've given a couple of them to friends, and most recently had my husband create three more for me. Included is a small 'mobile' press that I keep in our vehicle just in case I run across something beautiful that I can't resist putting in a press.

New 2019 homemade flower press 

One of my rough but still functional presses from the 1980s

Next I had to figure out how to store my new palette of colorful flowers. I purchased some inexpensive plastic stacking desktop drawers. The kind that holds an 8 1/2" x 11" sheets of paper. I filled them in no time at all. Storing 25-50 flowers per sheet I carefully filled the drawers with stacks of paper and flowers. I also managed to acquire a floor model jewelry case that works great and holds tons of flowers.

Storage drawers

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A friend had recently purchased a heat laminator and invited me to take a look to see what it could do. We were experimenting with it and decided to put a few leaves into one of the pouches to see what would happen. What came out of the laminator was fascinating and started me thinking about the possibilities. I started making bookmarks and cards with my treasures.

Over the years I've pressed tens of thousands of flowers and made thousands of bookmarks, cards and wall hangings. I'm still passionate about pressed flowers and you can find me pressing flowers and beautiful Maine fall foliage from first bloom in the spring to last leaf drop in the fall. The colder months are spent creating with my little treasures and remembering the beautiful days I picked my palette of spectacular blooms and dreamed of what I would create with them.