Monday, March 4, 2013

Doing My Ironing


 
I rarely (if ever) iron clothes... but I do iron plants
 
 
that I use in many creative meanders... including tea bag luminaries,
 
 accordian books and many other creative projects.  Often I press leaves and flowers in the traditional method -  between books.... but at other times I iron my botanical bits.
 
 
 
My lovely little potted ivy has not been doing well (as it was moved and forgotten over Christmas) and so today, I cut it back hoping that it will now be able to recover from my neglect.  But I had some beautiful leaves that I removed - some dead and some still alive.  I decided to add them to my stash of botanical bits that I use in my creations. 
 
 I took the dead and dry leaf (pictured on the right) and carefully ironed it flat.


I did by heating my iron (with steam turned off) to about level 5.  I then held the iron gently just touching the leaf or just above it.   The heat from the iron provides a bit of moisture and helps soften the dried leaf.  

Then I gently placed the iron on the leaf and slowly move it onto more of the leaf.  The leaf relaxes and flattens with the heat.  Once it is flat I added more pressure to the whole leaf.
 

I love how these leaves look and love to be able to press them with my iron even after they are dead and dried.
 
 
For the green leaves that were still alive, I used my microwave press. 
 

The press has two heavy layers of unglazed clay, with two layers of thick felt and two layers of a cotton cloth.  The live plants are put sandwiched between the layers of cloth, felt and clay, and heated in the microwave for a couple of minutes. 

The clay holds the heat, and the moisture in the plant is removed into the felt and the clay.  It is a really fast way to press bits of plants. 
 
 
I find that I don't always have time to press plants before they die, so I just collect them and then use my iron just like with the leaves to flatten them so I can use them.  This picture is of dead petals and leaves -  tulip and tigerlily petals - a crocus and a leaf of some type. 

 Here they are after I ironed them.  As you can see one of them crumbled when I tried to iron it, but I will be able to use all of the other pieces in some creations.  When the petals are curled up, I just put the tip of the iron at the bottom of the curled part and slowly work towards uncurling it as the heat relaxes the petal. 
 
 

My ironing is done for the day, and I have such a beautiful collection of botanical bits ready to create with.  
 

21 comments:

  1. What a lovely tip and just in time for Spring blooms. Thank you. Connie :)

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  2. Very nice tutorial, thanks for sharing, Kim! I really like how the green ivy leaves turned out.

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  3. What a fascinating post, Kim. I am never going to look at my dried up flower arrangements the same way again. xxoo, sus

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  4. I have never thought of using an iron to press flowers. Great idea.

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  5. oh your leaves look wonderful! I do use a microwave thingy for blooms, etc. and have quite a collection,,,,now if I'd just get on the stick and use them in projects again,,,,thanks for reminding me that I have old telephone books full of treasures. It is a brilliat idea to iron them!!! Thanks for that tip...maybe now my iron will come out of the cupboard....have a wonderful day!

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  6. have never heard of the microwave press...will have to check that out! and I too iron lots of things besides clothes...great tips on ironing leaves...I'm sure they will end up in a lovely creation...

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  7. Such lovely images! I didn't know about this microwave press, very interesting ... thanks for sharing your ironing day!

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  8. Wow... I did not know you could iron plants so easily, nor did I know anything about a microwave press. Your creations are so beautiful. Thank you for inspiring me today!

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  9. Your ironing is a hell of a lot more fun than mine! These are BEAUTIFUL - and I loved the idea of the microwave press. Hope there's lots of ironing ahead today, for you! Happy Tuesday - Tanya

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  10. wonderful!
    and such lovely results
    I have orchids that my Mom dried - will try ironing them
    thanks so much...

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  11. Oh your ironing looks so much more fun than boring clothes!!

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  12. What a fantastic idea! thanks for sharing it :)

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  13. I love to pop in to see what is being created in your world Kim, look how beautiful the pressed leaves look against the pattern of the paper towel!!

    Such a lovely tutorial and a wonderful,respectful way of honoring and appreciating Mother Earth. Thank you.

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  14. Who knew?! I'm SO excited to iron my bits and pieces now!! I have leaves tucked in books all over the house and totally forget where I've put them. Now I won't have to worry quite so much if they start to curl - I thought they were gonners then. This bit of info is so invaluable to me - THANKS!

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  15. I don't like to iron my clothes, but I love your ironing of leaves and flowers very much. thank you for sharing! :)) mano

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  16. The leaves are worth all your pressing and ironing because you use them and create such beautiful art works.
    I have been catching up and always enjoy seeing your projects.
    I hope that it was a very positive experience to be able to return to work, that you felt well enough. Hopefully one day you will look back and feel you are well again. Keep making your beautiful work, each new artwork gives you a sense of achievement and well being, it must help your healing.
    As for the ironing, mine mostly makes an appearance for patchwork or art projects too.
    Best wishes millyx

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  17. Thank you for taking the time to share this .... What a wonderful technique!

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  18. These are wonderful! I really love your accordian books!

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  19. I love your beautiful blog good job Thanks lot for this useful article

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  20. ...... I love your method of "Ironing" - the inventiveness is wonderful!

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  21. This is wonderful Kim...thank you for sharing it!

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