April showers bring May flowers, and springtime is the best time for the most vibrant and colorful flowers for the year. If you want to preserve your spring flowers for enjoying all year round, then pressing them and framing them is a great way to be able to keep it spring even when the blooms are long gone.

For some great tips on how to press your flowers and frame them for keeping, see below.

Choose only fresh flowers, and keep them fresh until you are ready to press them. You can do this by picking those that are just budding or recently bloomed. Keep them in a vase of cool, fresh water with the stems cut at an angle and the lower leaves removed to keep them the freshest colors.

After you have chosen your flowers, you’ll need to dry them out using regular tissues, cardboard, printer paper or coffee filters. Paper towels can leave an imprint. After you have chosen your paper, you are ready to press.

Press using a book. This is the easiest way to press flowers and can be very effective. Choose a heavy book for best results, and space your flowers out several pages if you are going to dry several at once. Place your flowers between your drying papers and place them within the pages of the book. Place a heavy object or another stack of books to keep them flat, and try not to disturb the flowers. Be sure to also change out the papers every few days to make sure the flowers dry out completely.

Press using an iron. This method is considerably faster than drying out for weeks in another way. Prep your flowers as you did before, and then place them between your drying papers. Empty all the water from your iron, and place it on a low setting. Press your iron gently but firmly on your top sheet for 10-15 seconds, and then let the paper cool before pressing again. Do this a few times, and then check to make sure your flowers are dried and flattened before lifting them with tweezers.

Press using a microwave. This method is a little more involved but easy to do. Make your own microwaveable flower press by placing your paper with the flowers in between two pieces of cardboard, and placing ceramic tiles on each side after that. Bind them together with a rubber band, and microwave your flower press for 30-60 seconds on a low heat setting to avoid browning. After doing this, you may have to press your flowers in the book method for a few more days to complete the drying.

Frame your pressed pieces. Use tweezers to slowly remove your pressed flowers from their papers when they are ready, and place them a matte background for framing. You can choose something like an oval frame for a smaller bouquet or single blooms, or a larger vintage picture frame for a large bouquet.