With so much beauty at your fingertips, it would be a shame not to show off a little.
And to create something beautiful with pressed flowers, you don't need much equipment: some type of clear-drying craft glue, toothpicks and/or tweezers to help you pick up the petals and leaves, something to decorate, and a little imagination.
My technique is simple: I pour a drop or two of glue on an old aluminum pie plate, dip the toothpick in it, and then carefully paint the back of flower. If that's too tricky, I spread a very thin spot of glue on the surface I'm decorating. Sometimes I add a bit of water to the glue if it seems too thick. If it still goes on too thick and squishes out the sides of the flower, I try to wipe away most of excess with another toothpick.
One of my favorite projects is making gift bags. When I started doing this, I chose ordinary lunch-size brown paper bags, just because I already had a bunch of them. I found I really liked the effect of the delicate flowers on the plain brown surface, so I still prefer using them. The brown paper also seems very forgiving, and little glue smears and boo-boos aren't too noticeable.
To make one, I usually decorate only one side of the bag – the side without the seam. First I play with the flowers a bit, and decide what shapes and colors I want to use, and where I want them. So far I've only done random patterns that please me; maybe you can use the flowers to create definite shapes or pictures.
If you're a beginner, I would suggest using the random-pattern idea to start. It's simple, and you can easily fix any mistakes: just stick another flower or leaf on top. I do that a lot; often my finished project doesn't look very much like my original plan, but nobody else has to know.
And if you're artistically-challenged, like me, you might want to check out the sketches at Designs, part of the Pressed Flowers from Riverhaven website. The basic design shapes may help you plan your own unique arrangement.
You can also use the design ideas for another good beginners' project -- gift and note cards. You can buy blank cards and matching envelopes at craft stores, or you could make your own from card stock (heavier-type paper, available at craft and stationary stores.) The technique is the same: play with the flowers, decide on an approximate pattern or design, and start gluing. These are easy and fun to make, and the people I've given them to really seem to appreciate them. There's just something so unexpected and beautiful about a card that contains pressed flowers.
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