  Most people are familiar with the craft of flower pressing. There are many ways to press flowers, to keep their bright colours on display; we tried the easiest way, using waxed paper and thick hardcover books. The first step is to collect some flowers! Look for a variety of bright colours. There is no limit to the number of flowers you can press.   
   Lay out the flowers, including the stems and leaves. Remove these if you don't want them as part of your display. We'll be making bookmarks, so the stems and leaves won't be needed. You can also trim the back of the flower as much as possible, so that the flower will lay flat. Now open one of the books and place a sheet of waxed paper, cut to the full width of the open book, on top. Start laying out the flowers on one side of the waxed paper. How you arrange the flowers isn't important, as long as they aren't touching each other. 
 
 Fold the book closed; the flowers should now be surrounded by waxed paper on both sides. Press heavily on the closed book to flatten out the flowers. You can repeat this process several times within the same book, and/or different books. 
  Store the books somewhere safe, with more heavy books or other weighty items stacked on top. Leave the books for at least a month. When you eventually remove the waxed paper from inside the book, open it up and carefully peel off the flowers from inside the folded sheet. The preserved flowers can now be used in various crafts, and/or sealed with some sort of preserving spray or paste. You may have a considerable number of flowers left over. Remove the stems and leaves, if you haven't already, and float them in bowls of water. This makes for quite stunning table decorations, which will last for several days. 
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