Feb 8

I was given 24 beautiful red roses for valentines day..does anyone know how i can preserve them?

I want to press one or two of them so i can keep them forever. Does anyone know how to do this? I dont have any special equiptment but am willing to buy some if needed. Also does anyone have any artistic ideas on what to do with them once pressed? Do u press the stems also?

All you need to press them is two heavy books and some kitchen towel. I have done it before and it tends to work very well, you will loose some of the colour but I’ve got a rose i got whilst in Kenya and that’s still preserved now and its still lovely. What I’d do is cut the stem either fairly short or off then lay the flower on its side on some kitchen role on top of one of the books. Its best to try and press the flower down with your fingers first and separate the petals nicely so they don’t just end up in a lump. Then put another piece of paper towel on top and the other book on top of that. Then leave it some where warm i.e. an airing cupboard for a couple of weeks. You can check on it from time to time and once its done it should feel completely dry.
Once pressed I’d put them on to something white, maybe silk (can get from hobby craft) then into a frame and put them on the wall.

Valentines roses 13 Comments

13 comments...

  1. Posted by lilkit 8th February, 2010 at 11:50 am

    I think if you paint them with clear nail varnish this will perserve them. Just be careful not to detach the petals when doing it. Other than that i think to press them you just place it in a hard heavy book for a while until it dries out
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  2. Posted by AngeG 8th February, 2010 at 12:35 pm

    I wouldn’t press roses. I’d dry them out, by hanging them upside down in an airing cupboard.
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  3. Posted by Sal*UK 8th February, 2010 at 12:41 pm

    Don’t know about pressing them, but you could find a nice clear container (Ferrero Rocher box for instance) and keep one in the freezer! I have a flower out of my wedding bouquet in mine – been there for 20+ years now and still looks beautiful!
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  4. Posted by themadmarchhare 8th February, 2010 at 12:55 pm

    not the roses u need to preserve but the sentiment. Hope it lasts gal !
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  5. Posted by mittens98 8th February, 2010 at 1:07 pm

    I dont no how to press them properly, i tried something similar i just placed them in the middle of a heavy book for a few days (it worked pretty well) Or you could dry them out in the microwave.
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  6. Posted by liezenvp 8th February, 2010 at 1:35 pm

    Hang them upside down, that way the heads of the roses wont look all funny- once they are all dried out then you can put them up agian, but to keep them for muchhhhh longer im not sure but thats the only way I know to dry them out neatly.
    Njoy!
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  7. Posted by Ginny Jin 8th February, 2010 at 1:42 pm

    http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Al4xm_JsizTg7LsYu7gbN5IhBgx.;_ylv=3?qid=20071103100454AA74evH
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    I asked this a while ago. Here are the answers. 4 months later my flowers are still looking great. I took 6 roses out of my wedding bouquet to preserve and gave the rest away.

  8. Posted by cerian 8th February, 2010 at 1:57 pm

    buy a plain photo albam and use the dried or pressed flowers to decorate it (to dry them leave in the airing cupboard for a day) that way you can keep your memories togeather.
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  9. Posted by Donna 8th February, 2010 at 2:41 pm

    my friend had her wedding bouquet dried and mounted, they are in a big photo frame in her house, you should maybe try that yourself, buy a nice frame and press them in that, obviously they wont keep their colour, but it will look quite antique, but its a nice way of keeping them on show.
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  10. Posted by salamander2090 8th February, 2010 at 3:22 pm

    Here are some ideas… I like to preserve my flowers when I get them as well and you can do a couple different things yourself. First you can press them. I usually take some wax paper and put the flower (stem and all) in between 2 pieces (the flower will lose moisture as it dries thats why I would use wax paper and not regular paper) then put it inbetween 2 books and then put it all where it is tightly compressed. Maybe under a piece of furniture, a heavy pile of books.. something heavy. I would leave it there for about a week and then check it and see if it is still moist, you will want to press it until its completely dry. At this point you can frame it (which I prefer, I have a wall in my house with beautiful framed roses from different occasions in my life). The most I would try to press into 1 frame would be 2-3 max. You want to make sure the center of the flower is dry or it will grow mold in the frame. Another option would be to turn the flowers upside down and put them in a closet or dark place for about 2 weeks. They will dry out and be very brittle but you could get some type of shadow box and display them in there or somewhere else you just have to be careful not to smoosh them.
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  11. Posted by Ash 8th February, 2010 at 3:56 pm

    All you need to press them is two heavy books and some kitchen towel. I have done it before and it tends to work very well, you will loose some of the colour but I’ve got a rose i got whilst in Kenya and that’s still preserved now and its still lovely. What I’d do is cut the stem either fairly short or off then lay the flower on its side on some kitchen role on top of one of the books. Its best to try and press the flower down with your fingers first and separate the petals nicely so they don’t just end up in a lump. Then put another piece of paper towel on top and the other book on top of that. Then leave it some where warm i.e. an airing cupboard for a couple of weeks. You can check on it from time to time and once its done it should feel completely dry.
    Once pressed I’d put them on to something white, maybe silk (can get from hobby craft) then into a frame and put them on the wall.
    References :

  12. Posted by Pria 8th February, 2010 at 4:24 pm

    http://www.rosesbydesign.co.uk/preserving_your_roses_guide.php
    Follow this link. They have given various methods to preserve roses.
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  13. Posted by Lyndsey M 8th February, 2010 at 4:55 pm

    silica gel works well, buy some from a craft shop, cut away enough of the stem to place the rose in an airtight container (like tupperware dish), place a layer of silica gel in container, lay rose on top, (you may want to rearrange the peatls slightly by teasing with your fingers until it is a bit more open), also sprinkle some silica gel inbetween the petals and on top of the rose. Seal container and leave for 3-5 days, you may need to leave it longer but keep checking to see if it has dried.

    You can speed process up using a microwave but never tried it!
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What do you think?