Microwave Pressed Flowers

A week or so ago I bought some fresh flowers to use as centerpieces on our dining table when we had guests over.  Now they are at the end of their life and instead of throwing them away I decided to try making pressed flowers with the microwave.  I had seen others do this and thought I would give it a try!

First, I cut the flowers off of the long stems close to the bottom of the flower.  I left one leaf on each of these to see what they would look like.  I laid them on 1 or 2 paper towels and covered them with a couple of paper towels.

I weighted them down with a heavy bowl.  Some folks use an actual book but I didn’t want to worry about fire.

I microwaved on high for 1 minute.  I then changed out the paper towels to help with removing the moisture and microwaved again in 30 second increments until the flower was dry.  Some flowers I had to change the paper towels several times, depending on their moisture content.

I found these frames at IKEA and framed some of the best ones.  I am going to hang these as a grouping in our guest bedroom.

I’m glad I tried this!  It was a fun way to use flowers that were headed to the trash!  Have you ever pressed flowers with a microwave?