Katie Meadow - Crafting with Flowers: Pressed Flower Decorations, Herbariums, and Gifts for Every Season

Copyright 2020 by Katie Meadow

Photos on The Struths Photography

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Meadow, Katie, author.

Title: Crafting with flowers: pressed flower jewelry, herbariums, decorations, and gifts for every season / Katie Meadow.

Description: New York: Skyhorse Publishing, 2020. |

Identifiers: LCCN 2019059019 (print) | LCCN 2019059020 (ebook) | ISBN 9781510755994 (hardback) | ISBN 9781510756007 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Nature craft. | Dried flowers. | Pressed flower pictures. | Gifts. | Seasons.

Classification: LCC TT857 .M44 2020 (print) | LCC TT857 (ebook) | DDC 745.92dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019059019

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019059020

Cover design by Daniel Brount

Cover photos by Katie Meadow

Print ISBN: 978-1-5107-5599-4

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-5107-5600-7

Printed in China

For Ange

Contents

Introduction

I began Owl and Wallflower several years agoits my website and shop, where I create one-of-a-kind jewelry pieces, using handpicked flowers from cottage gardens, foraged wildflowers, and home-grown herbs. My botanical jewelry collection includes lockets featuring pressed roses from English country gardens hung on shimmery rose gold chains, pretty pink larkspur pendants encapsulated in resin, and pressed lavender lockets. My jewelry collections are inspired by folklore and the ancient magical meanings of flora.

My love of history and botanical art led me to start selling vintage flower guides and antiquarian books through my shop. I started to learn more about the flowers, their uses, and history. Preserving, drying, and storing flowers has been practiced for thousands of years, but became a particularly popular pastime during the nineteenth century. The Victorians used wooden flower presses to flatten and dry flowers. The hobby became particularly fashionable for Victorian women. They framed the pressed flowers with handwritten pieces of poetry and encased the flowers within brooches, earrings, and pendants to create sentimental pieces of botanical jewelry. They created herbariums, scrapbooks filled with their pressed flowers, leaves, and ferns.

In this book you will find a variety of projects with both dried cut flowers and pressed flowers too. There are so many crafts you can create with flowers and I hope this book gives you some ideas, and inspires your creations!

Katie

Language of Flowers

In the Victorian era, special secret meanings were attributed to numerous types of plants and flowers. Here are some to keep in mind:

AlmondHope

AlyssumWorth beyond beauty

Ash TreeGrandeur

AsterVariety

BluebellConstancy

BorageBluntness

BrambleEnvy

ButtercupIngratitude

CactusWarmth

CedarStrength

CloverIndustry

CrocusYouthfulness

DaffodilRegard

DaisyInnocence

FernSincerity

FoxgloveInsincerity

FuchsiaTaste

GoldenrodEncouragement

HarebellGrief

HeliotropeDevotion

HibiscusDelicate Beauty

HollyForesight

HoneysuckleAffection

IvyFriendship

LotusEloquence

Love in the MistPerplexity

MagnoliaLove of Nature

MyrtleLove

NasturtiumPatriotism

OakBravery

OrangeGenerosity

PansyThoughtfulness

PinkBoldness

Ragged RobinWit

RoseLove

Rose, damaskBrilliant Complexion

Rosebud, redLovely

ShamrockLight-heartedness

SnowdropHope

SunflowerAdoration

Tulip, redDeclaration of love

VioletFaithfulness

WallflowerFidelity in Adversity

Pressing Flowers

There are several different techniques you can use to press and dry flowers. A flower press traps flowers between layers of paper, card, and two thick wooden boards and is held together by bolts at each corner. Each bolt has a wingnut which you can tighten to tightly trap your flowers within and to speed up the drying process. You can purchase a flower press from most craft stores or online.

The easiest flowers to press are flatter ones such as daisies, shrub roses, and violas. I have also had a lot of success with pressing babys breath, ferns, larkspur, fuchsia, and lavender. I find that juicier flowers such as snowdrops and bluebells are much more difficult and will take more time to successfully press.

Press flowers as soon as possible after theyre picked. Make sure your flowers are in good condition to ensure the best results, so no drooping or already wilted flowers. Only press flowers that look dry. If you press a wet flower it is very likely it will become moldy when you come to open your press. Avoid picking flowers after rainfall, or early in the morning, as the dew will create dampness.