Last Minute Flower Pressing

If you’re an inhabitant of the north as I am, now is the time for fervent last minute flower pressing. Here in Wisconsin there have already been a number of hard frosts, but a few hardy flower souls remain, such as my sunny yellow and orange calendula, a handful of weary osteospermum, and of course my hardy mums.

Now that I’ve been pressing flowers for a number of years, I finally have the forethought to press an ample supply of greenery as well. A week or so ago I trimmed all the fronds off of my maidenhair ferns and pressed them. Even though some of them were a bit ragged at the tips, the beautiful lacy green foliage will come in handy for my pressed flower gift tags and pressed flower collage cards. I also like to press as many long slender pieces of grass I can find (the grass along the cornfield that my husband always misses with the weed-wacker). Grass makes a perfect flower stem in a pinch, especially for flowers that have really thick stems, such as calendula or cosmos.

Don’t forget to press extra leaves as well. I tend to find that most flower leaves are pretty brittle, so it’s nice to have lots of extras on hand. My favorite leaves to press are tarragon leaves from my herb garden. They tend to be just the perfect size, they’re fairly durable, and they smell great when they are being zapped in the microwave with my Microfleur flower press.

Happy pressing!

Of Blogging and Pumpkins

I have a favorite blog that I love to read. Typically the blogger writes once a week or so, and I happily check in every day to see if she’s written anything new.

Much to my disappointment, she hasn’t written anything for over a month. I’ve been thinking about what a let down this is, and in my self righteous frustration I decided that no one should write a blog unless they can commit to keeping it reasonably updated, and if life temporarily gets beyond them, they should let their readers know…not leave them dangling.

As I was stewing over this, I heard that “small still voice” call me a hypocrite. Oh, yes, I guess I forgot. I too have a blog. It’s not much of a blog, but I have had a few more than kind emails lately asking how things are, and gently prodding me for my next blog article.

I am preparing a new blog entry for my fellow flower pressing friends. In the meantime, Here is an interesting “Pumpkin Prayer” for those of you who choose not to celebrate Halloween (like our family), but still celebrate God’s Harvest.

"Pumpkin Prayer"

{cut off top of pumpkin}Lord, open my mind so I can learn new things about you.

{remove innards}Remove the things in my life that don’t please you.Forgive the wrong things I do and help me to forgive others.

{cut open eyes}Open my eyes to see the beauty you’ve made in the world around me.

{cut out nose}I’m sorry for the times I’ve turned my nose at the good food you provide.

{cut out mouth}Let everything I say please You.

{light the candle}Lord, help me show your light to others through the things I do.
Amen

By: Liz Curtis Higgs

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