Both ferns and leaves can be arranged as vines on the wall or cur-
tains, or as a cornice, by taking very fine wire and winding the stems
and then arranging them as a long vine. Another good way is to fasten
them on with thin mucilage to a strip of lace of suitable width, and then
use it as a cornice for curtains, or border for lambrequins or brackets.
A cluster of leaves put between two thicknesses of gauze, the edge
finished with ribbon, makes a pretty window transparency, if one likes
these trifles in the window. Most any way is preferable to giving them
a stiff, imprisoned look.
316 PRESSED FLOWERS.
PRESSED FLOWERS.
If to be arranged like a painting, take some plain white wrapping
paper and place the flowers or leaves carefully between the sheets of
the paper. Then press them by placing a heavy weight over them (the
letter-presses are excellent), and leave them a day or two, then change
the papers ; thus the juices of the flowers are absorbed. It takes a
week or two to press perfectly, and in summer often longer. When
dry place them in a book or air-tight box ready for use. A year is
required to make a varied and handsome collection, as each flower has
its own season for blossoming. Wild flowers retain their colors better
than cultivated ; but experience alone will teach what flowers, will
retain their colors best. This is a list of flowers which are known to
retain their colors by this mode of pressing :
All geraniums (except horseshoe and sweet-scented) preserve their
color. They are very essential, as their color is brilliant arid keeps for
years. All yellow flowers, both wild and cultivated, retain their color.
The violet and pansy, dwarf blue convolvulus, blue larkspur, blue myr-
tle, blue lobelia, heaths, the small original fuchsia, wild housatonia and
many tiny blue and even white flowers press perfectly.
For green ; ivy, maiden hair, ferns or brake, mosses, etc., retain their
color best. Rarely a cultivated green leaf presses well. Autumn
leaves, if small, and the youngest oak leaves mix well. Certain kinds
of stems, such as pansy and others of similar character, are best adapted
for pressing.
After the collection is made, take card-board, without a polish if
possible, and arrange the flowers as designed. Gum them to the
paper with tragacanth, using a camei's-hair brush ; then press on the
paper and flower with a cloth, carefully absorbing all moisture as well
as firmly pressing the flower on the paper. Geraniums and some larger
flowers look better if each leaf is glued on separately.
In forming the bouquet, it is better to arrange the stems first and
work upwards. Baskets and vases of moss with flowers are pretty.
To form these trace out with a pencil the vase or basket and glue on
the moss. Then arrange the flowers.
It is a pleasant way of "preserving mementoes of friends, places or
events. Flower albums or journals are very beautiful. Wreaths
arranged of different varieties of pelargoniums mixed in with any pretty
green and other little flowers, such as lobelias, are very handsome and
the colors are durable. Pansies of different shades look well, and bril-
liant wreaths may be made of all the varieties of flowers that hold their
color. The oval shape looks the best for wreaths.
TO PRESERVE FLOWERS AND FRUIT. 317
Page 280
Presented as published in 1886. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
Both ferns and leaves can be arranged as vines on the wall or curtains, or as a cornice, by taking very fine wire and winding the stems and then arranging them as a long vine. Another good way is to fasten them on with thin mucilage to a strip of lace of suitable width, and then use it as a cornice for curtains, or border for lambrequins or brackets. A cluster of leaves put between two thicknesses of gauze, the edge finished with ribbon, makes a pretty window transparency, if one likes these trifles in the window. Most any way is preferable to giving them a stiff, imprisoned look.
316 PRESSED FLOWERS.
PRESSED FLOWERS.
If to be arranged like a painting, take some plain white wrapping paper and place the flowers or leaves carefully between the sheets of the paper. Then press them by placing a heavy weight over them (the letter-presses are excellent), and leave them a day or two, then change the papers ; thus the juices of the flowers are absorbed. It takes a week or two to press perfectly, and in summer often longer. When dry place them in a book or air-tight box ready for use. A year is required to make a varied and handsome collection, as each flower has its own season for blossoming. Wild flowers retain their colors better than cultivated ; but experience alone will teach what flowers, will retain their colors best. This is a list of flowers which are known to retain their colors by this mode of pressing :
All geraniums (except horseshoe and sweet-scented) preserve their color. They are very essential, as their color is brilliant and keeps for years. All yellow flowers, both wild and cultivated, retain their color. The violet and pansy, dwarf blue convolvulus, blue larkspur, blue myrtle, blue lobelia, heaths, the small original fuchsia, wild housatonia and many tiny blue and even white flowers press perfectly.
For green ; ivy, maiden hair, ferns or brake, mosses, etc., retain their color best. Rarely a cultivated green leaf presses well. Autumn leaves, if small, and the youngest oak leaves mix well. Certain kinds of stems, such as pansy and others of similar character, are best adapted for pressing.
After the collection is made, take card-board, without a polish if possible, and arrange the flowers as designed. Gum them to the paper with tragacanth, using a camei's-hair brush ; then press on the paper and flower with a cloth, carefully absorbing all moisture as well as firmly pressing the flower on the paper. Geraniums and some larger flowers look better if each leaf is glued on separately.
In forming the bouquet, it is better to arrange the stems first and work upwards. Baskets and vases of moss with flowers are pretty. To form these trace out with a pencil the vase or basket and glue on the moss. Then arrange the flowers.
It is a pleasant way of "preserving mementoes of friends, places or events. Flower albums or journals are very beautiful. Wreaths arranged of different varieties of pelargoniums mixed in with any pretty green and other little flowers, such as lobelias, are very handsome and the colors are durable. Pansies of different shades look well, and brilliant wreaths may be made of all the varieties of flowers that hold their color. The oval shape looks the best for wreaths.
TO PRESERVE FLOWERS AND FRUIT. 317