How to create moody pressed flower art using spring's best blooms

Oshibana is the Japanese art of preserving and arranging flowers and foliage to form beautiful compositions. While the traditional method involves waiting days for the botanicals to naturally dry, this tutorial employs a clever shortcut: microwaving the blooms on low heat. The outcome rivals that of pressing them between pages of a heavy book, but only takes a few minutes to achieve.

Note: you can substitute the blooms below for other similar varietals, though white flowers will brown using the microwave method.

Materials

Flowers and foliage:

• 4 ranunculus blooms, stems removed
• 14 grape hyacinths (mix of white and blue), with 3 inches of stem remaining
• 10 sprigs of blue tweedia, with 1 inch of stem remaining
• 14 blue tweedia blooms, stems removed
• 3 purple pansy blooms
• 30 purple hydrangea blooms (Not the entire head, rather the small blossoms that make up the corymb.)
• 15 sprigs of Thlaspi (pennycress)
• 1 stem of fresh dill, cut into 4 pieces
• 8 tiny pansy leaves

Other materials:

• A microwave
• Paper towel (or craft paper)
• A heavy microwave-safe plate (or casserole dish)
• 11-by-14-inch piece of black bristol board (or craft paper)
• Tweezers
• Paper plate (or craft paper)
• Craft glue
• A small paint brush
• 14-by-17-inch glass floating frame 

Instructions

Drying: 

Arrange the ranunculus blooms between two sheets of paper towel and place in the microwave with a heavy plate or casserole dish on top. Heat on the defrost or warm setting for about 30 seconds, then let rest for 15 seconds. Repeat this process until the blooms are completely dry and flat, about three minutes total. (Heating time will vary depending on your microwave model. To avoid burning, carefully lift the top sheet of paper to check on the blooms after each 30 second interval.)

Repeat this process with the remaining botanicals using a fresh set of paper for each varietal. 

For thinner blooms and foliage, like the pansies, hydrangeas, Thlaspi, dill and pansy leaves, drying times will likely be shorter, approximately one and a half minutes. 

Assembly:

Before you begin applying glue, arrange your botanicals on the black bristol board or craft paper to determine their placement. Use tweezers for the thinner, more delicate flowers, such as the pansies and hydrangeas.

Place the ranunculus and pansy blooms down the centre of the board. 

Distribute the Thlaspi evenly across the board, then arrange the grape hyacinths between them.

Add a piece of dill to each quarter.

Distribute the tweedia sprigs evenly between the other blooms and foliage, then fill in the remaining gaps with tweedia blooms, hydrangeas and pansy leaves.

Squeeze a dollop of craft glue onto a paper plate or piece of paper. Use a small paintbrush to apply a dab of glue onto each botanical and gently press them back down on the bristol board with your fingers. 

Once the glue has dried, insert the bristol board between the two sheets of glass in your floating frame and hang in the spot of your choosing. 

Produced in collaboration with the CBC Creator Network.