Baby Announcements

I was window shopping over the weekend and came across the cutest little flower press for $7. Seemed like quite a deal if only I could think of something to use pressed flowers for. And then of course it came to me: decorating baby birth announcements.

Flowers are a traditional gift for your new moms and a great way to distract from those first post birth discomforts. By pressing the flowers and incorporating them into your birth announcements. Whether directly gluing the flowers onto homemade cards or making them into inserts on custom printed pieces, flowers add texture as well as an individual memory to every piece.

Be sure to clean and prepare the flowers you intend to press for your birth announcements. Shake off any pollen dust and remove and additional or clumsy looking petals or leaves. Pressed flowers look best when tidied up before being pressed. You may want to gentle rinse each flower head under cold water to ensure a clean finish. Depending on the flower type a gently misting from a spry bottle may be more appropriate.

Place the flower heads or the individual petals for your birth announcements between sheets of tissue paper or wax paper before placing in the press. The paper not only absorbs any excess liquid from the flower, it helps keep the flower’s shape.  Be sure the flower heads don’t actually touch each other in the press as this could compromise the final look. Be sure to follow pressing instructions that come with the unit.

To incorporate the pressed flowers into your baby birth announcement, consider making them into laminated book marks. You could have the flower (with an explanation of its origin) on one side and details of the birth on the other. Consider using a custom printed label or sticker to give the press flower insert a polished finish.

Filed under: birth announcements, new parent life on August 25th, 2010