Framed song lyrics with pressed flowers.

I love weddings. I truly do. There is nothing more beautiful and joyful than two people, madly in love, celebrating their devotion to each other. To me, it doesn't matter what kind of wedding it is, doesn't matter where, or what traditions are practiced, I love them all! I love the happiness, the excitement, the romance, and everything in between! Especially when it's in the family.

This past summer one of my younger cousins married his long-time love and child hood friend. Of course, their wedding was nothing short of amazing! After all the celebrations, the guests got to take all the floral arrangements home with them. I pressed some of the flower petals from our arrangement with plans of making a wedding memento for the newlyweds.

To press flowers, I like to simply place petals, stems, and leaves in between book or magazine pages, ensuring that the florals don't touch each other. Then, I place something heavy on top of the book/magazine (such as a number of other books/magazines), and forget about it for at least two weeks. And that's it! It's so easy. Over time, the flowers dry out (become pressed) and turn into paper-thin, delicate little beauties that can then be used in any project!

For this memento, I decided that I'd do a frame that would feature a meaningful excerpt of lyrics from the song of the couple's first dance, written out decoratively, with pressed flowers arranged tastefully around the lyrics.

The lyrics I selected were "...I can't help but love you, it is getting better all the time..." (from "I can't help it" by Michael Jackson) because these words truly represent the couple's relationship over time. I began this project by first arranging and tracing the lyrics onto a piece of foam board. 

Then, I filled in the lyrics with black ink.

Next, I arranged the pressed flowers around the lyrics. Once I was satisfied with the layout, I secured them into place with a dab of hot glue. To add some detail and visual interest, I drew in a few gold dots throughout.

Finally, I mounted the foam board into a frame. 

Doesn't this make a great gift? It's personal, sentimental, and could be gifted for many occasions. Using lyrics from a first dance and wedding flowers not only make for a lovely wedding gift, but also for anniversaries. Lyrics from a couple's love song and petals from their favourite flowers would be great for Valentine's Day, a birthday, or just because you love someone.

To make a lovely gift for grandparents, instead of song lyrics, a photo of a grandchild handing flowers to their grandparents along with petals from the bouquet in the photo could be used. Or a picture of a child surprising their mom with flowers makes for a lovely Mother's Day gift. The ideas and applications are endless!