Pressed botanicals lend an air of natural elegance to any space. They are classic and beautiful in the most effortless way, because Mother Nature has done most of the work for you! With this simple tutorial, creating your own botanical art is easier than ever.
For years I’ve been filling our home with framed botanicals, many printed from vintage books. Chris even gifted me an original botanical for our anniversary. Our copper anniversary, to be specific, because printing presses used to copper plate botanical images for printing into books. It was such a thoughtful and much-appreciated gift!
Botanicals in general make me feel at ease. The unique shape, color, and texture of each flower creates a one-of-a-kind work of art. This DIY is quick, easy, inexpensive, AND you get a work of art that is 100% your own.
You can purchase botanical art, but it is often very expensive. For example, Giannetti Home offers beautiful Mexican Sage for nearly $600 and Restoration Hardware offers smaller pressed botanicals on linen for $200.
I decided to try pressing my own botanicals before splurging on buying one. I ended up with more than just beautiful art for my walls. I found that sometimes the process is just as beautiful as the final result. It’s a lesson I need to remember – enjoy the process!
Keep reading for the complete tutorial on how to make your own botanical art. Plus get 20 easy DIY wall decor ideas, tips for styling an art wall, and a tutorial for printing your own small framed pictures on textured book cloth.
Making Botanical Art
When I first considered this project, I planned to do it the old fashioned way like I did with my Grandma. Simply place the stem between a sheet of parchment paper and tuck it inside the pages of a heavy book. Stack more heavy books on top and leave it for several weeks.
This is probably the method you thought of first. It’s tried and true and it’s a great option – if you don’t mind a lot of waiting.
A second great option is to iron your stem. Yes, with a regular iron and ironing board! Ironing your stem removes its moisture without aging the flower – and it only takes a few minutes. It’s the ideal method for creating gorgeous pressed botanical art for your home.
Not to mention, with each touch of the iron, beautiful fragrance releases and fills your home. So not only does this project look beautiful, it smells amazing, too!
Supplies
It doesn’t take much to get started making your own botanical art. In fact, you probably have several of these supplies already on hand. Here’s what you need to create your own pressed botanicals:
- Stem from your plant of choice {herbs, ferns, flowers}
- Heavy book (optional)
- Iron & ironing surface
- Several sheets white paper
- Mounting paper or linen, trimmed to size of your frame
- Glue
- Toothpick
- Tweezers
- Spray adhesive
- Frame
How to Make a Pressed Botanical
This really is such a doable DIY. If you know how to work an iron, you can press your own flowers! No more waiting weeks to enjoy the results! They’ll be ready to frame within minutes.
For the complete tutorial, see the printable instruction card below.
- For thicker flowers, place two pieces of paper in the middle of a thick book, center your stem on the page, and close the book with the flower inside. Stand on your book for several seconds to press the flower.
- Place a few sheets of paper on hard surface or ironing board. Position yours stem in the center of the page and layer 2 additional sheets of paper over the top.
- Iron your stem on medium-high heat without steam. Apply pressure for a few seconds in each section, and lift iron to reposition. Continue until you’ve ironed entire stem. Do not move iron while it is on the stem, because doing so can cause breakage.
- Replace your paper with new, dry paper. Reposition your stem if needed to achieve desired shape – at this point the stem will still have moisture and will be flexible. Repeat step #3 until stem is completely dry. As you do, the oils from the stem will transfer to your paper.
- Once dry, you can mount your stem for framing. Carefully lift off paper using tweezers, and position on mounting paper or linen. Using a toothpick, line the back of the stem with glue and adhere. While glue is still wet, you can use tweezers to manipulate it, reshape it, remove small pieces, etc. Work carefully, or stem could break.
- Use spray adhesive to secure your botanical art to your frame backing or a flat cardboard insert cut to size of frame. Insert glass into frame, then your art behind the glass, and secure it with the tabs on the back of the frame.
- Hang according to frame instructions.
Where to Hang
I added mine to our guest bathroom. Because of it’s location on the main wall, it’s one of the first things you see from the doorway and detracts from the toilet. It’s the perfect natural piece of art for a bathroom – not too personal, but simple and beautiful.
This botanical art would look lovely in any space in your house, from your entryway, living spaces, to your bedrooms. It’s elegant enough to hold its own as a single piece of art on a narrow sliver of wall. Or it would be stunning in a collection – with simple frames and thick white mats – and hung in a grid pattern to fill a large wall.
Wherever you use it and however you hang it, you just can’t go wrong with this DIY pressed botanical art! And you’ll love the satisfaction you get from creating something this beautiful.
More Easy Decor Ideas
- Free Art Sources
- 17 Ideas for Art Above a Bed
- Textured Wall Art
- How to Find the Source of an Image
- Botanical Art Prints
- How to Design Your Room When You’re Not a Designer
- Throw Pillow Covers
- How to Hang Platters and Plates
DIY Pressed Botanical Art
Ingredients
- Stem from plant of choice herbs, ferns, flowers
- Heavy book optional
- Several sheets white paper
- Mounting paper or linen trimmed to size of frame
- Glue
- Spray adhesive
- Frame
Instructions
- For thicker flowers, place two pieces of paper in the middle of a thick book, center your stem on the page, and close with the flower inside. Stand on your book for several seconds to press the flower. Note: you may skip this step for already thin stems and flowers.
- Place a few sheets of paper on hard surface or ironing board. Position your stem in the center of the page and layer 2 additional sheets of paper over the top.
- Iron your stem on medium-high heat without steam. Apply pressure for a few seconds in each section, and lift to reposition iron. Continue until you’ve ironed entire stem.
- Replace paper with new sheets. Reposition stem if desired. Repeat step #3 until stem is completely dry.
- Once dry, carefully lift stem using tweezers and position on mounting paper or linen. Using toothpick, line stem with glue and adhere. Use tweezers to manipulate shape, remove small pieces, etc. while the glue is still wet.
- Secure mounting paper or linen to frame backing or cardboard insert using spray adhesive. Put art into frame behind glass and hang according to instructions.
Thanks for this. I remembered my mother had some alpine flowers framed and I think they were on kozo paper, which was very handsome in our entryway. I’ going to the park tomorrow to look to botanicals.
Hi Julie, Gorgeous!!
Do I put glass over them?
I didn’t, but you absolutely could!
Do you know how long they will last? I’m concerned that there will be fading and possibly the plant/flower coming apart over time.
For years! They’re completely dried already so should remain in tact as long as they are not touched. My grandmother had dried flowers that retained their color for as long as I could remember. Enjoy!
I just tried this with some lavender blooming in my garden, and it worked great… the pressed stems are beautiful with such a nice natural flow to them! I’m about to go to the store to buy fabric backing and frames to complete the project. I’m surprised by how long my stems are though, once I measured — I hope I can find frames to fit. I was going to make 2 tall thin pictures, but since my stems are so long, I may just make one large picture like you did. Thanks for sharing this technique… so much better than waiting weeks while the flowers press in books.
So glad you enjoyed it as well! If you have Facebook/Instagram, tag me, I’d love to see!