Plant press questions

[oliveview]

I bought a plant press to use in our nature study and it did not come with directions. This is what it looks like

http://www.hometrainingtools.com/product_categories/181/products/6426-plant-press-9-x-12-

Do I just put the object between two pieces of the white paper and the leave all the cardboard there? How many uses will I get out of the white paper? Are there any tips or tricks that will save me grief/time/money? What have you done with the plants once they are dry?

 

Thanks so much!

[In The Great White North]

You just lay the flowers or leaves in between the pages and tie it up. I have also seen them with screws that you tighten a bit every day.

 

We also laid flowers on regular old copy paper between a stack of enyclopedias (another reason not to throw out your childhood set :D). If you want to save money, return it and just use a stack of books. Construction paper might soak up the moisture faster than copy paper, but I used what was at hand.

 

You can mount and frame the dried specimens, just by putting them in the frame right behind the glass. We also made cards, which stay nicest if you lay the specimen on the note card and put contact paper over it all. You can also make "suncatchers" by putting them between two sheets of contact paper and hanging them in the window.

[Chris in VA]

Similarly to the pp, we just use old phone books--no need to change the paper or use up expensive copy/construction papers. We try to id the leaves, flowers, etc, and mount them for our nature notebooks.

[oliveview]

Thanks for all the great ideas everyone!

:D

[GreenKitty]

Just wanted to say that's a neat press! Though we also use boards and books to press ours.