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How to Make Pressed Flower Clay Plaques

In: DECORATING, DIY Decorating Projects, Spring & Easter Ideas and Projects

Looking for an idea to make some original wall art with a natural vibe? Well, I have the perfect project! Today I am going to show you how to make pressed flower clay plaques.

Steps to Make Pressed Flower Clay Plaques

The inspiration for this project came from something I saw in the Magnolia Spring line. It’s no secret that I love the look and style of everything Joanna Gaines!! You don’t believe me…well take a look through my Visiting Magnolia posts when I stayed at one of their rental homes!!

The Magnolia pressed flower plaques are $48 each!! They are lovely but pricey…so I did what I love to do…take an expensive idea and make it budget-friendly!!

This post may include affiliate links; you can read my disclosure policy here.

Supplies:

For my flower plaques, I am using DAS air-dry modeling clay in the Terracotta color and a couple of wood frames from a Hobby Lobby set.

Later in the project, I will be using acrylic craft paint & pens, and a hot glue gun.

wood wall frames
supplies to make flower plaques

Roll out the clay

rolling clay

The first step is to roll out the clay. I’m using my pastry rolling pin for this…no special tools are needed!

Measure & Cut The Clay

filling a frame with clay
cutting clay with a knife

After I had the clay rolled out to around 1/8 inch in thickness (eyeball measurement) the next step was to take the piece of clay and lay it over one of the wood frames.

Then I used my fingertips to push the clay down against the edges of the frame to make an outline of the space. After that, it was easy to take a knife and run it down the sides of the wood frame.

Then I wet my fingertips and smoothed out the rough edges of the clay.

For this project, I wanted to make 2 frames so I repeated the steps to make a second clay piece.

Choose The Flowers to Press

dried flowers on a paper towel

Since the plaques that I’m making are on the smaller side, I am going to use small but detailed flowers to press. Well, I am using dried flowers and one artificial piece of greenery.

For the dried options, I have a piece of seeded eucalyptus that I have leftover from my Flower Keepsake Shadowbox project, a sprig of white waxflower that I had from my last Trader Joe’s flower run, and another dried plant from my garden. I pulled off a small piece of artificial greenery from a larger stem to press too.

Press the Flowers in the Clay

flowers on top of a piece of terracotta clay

Now the fun part..figuring out how I wanted to lay down the flowers on the clay for the prettiest outcome. I did play around with the arrangement a bit before deciding. I wanted some of the pieces to run off the edges of the clay and made sure that the stem part of each one made it onto the clay.

rolling pin going over flowers on clay

Once I had my arrangement finalized I took my wood rolling pin and slowly went over the clay and flowers.

I pressed down hard enough to press the flowers into the clay without going through the clay. You don’t need to use much pressure at all!

removing flowers from clay
using a paintbrush to remove plants from clay

After the flowers were pressed I pulled the stem out gently from the bottom. Some of the little pieces of the flowers and seeded eucalyptus fell off in the process so I used a soft paintbrush to gently prod them out of the clay.

Once I lifted the ends out of the clay I could grab them and remove them without messing up the project.

clay inside of a wood frame

Now, a very important step!! Once I had pressed the flowers into the clay I picked up the clay and put it inside the frame to make adjustments so that it would fit.

The top of the clay from rolling over it needed to be trimmed again (and I wet my fingertips to smooth the clay edges a bit afterwards)

If you wanted a perfectly straight piece of clay then use a small X-Acto blade, I wanted an organic look to the edges.

After I was finished with both plaques I put them on a drying rack (one of my baking ones) to let the clay dry. It took a little more than a day for the clay to be completely dry.

Paint the Frames

painting wood frames with brown paint

While the clay was drying I painted the frames. If I ever make this project again I think I will stain the frames for sure! It was about 6° out in my garage and way too cold to work or stain anything out there!

The frames were painted with a coat of dark brown acrylic craft paint and once they dried I went over the frames with the Waverly Antique Wax. For the wax, I brushed it onto the frames and then used a paper towel to wipe it off after a minute. This wax has the consistency of thick paint and is super easy to work with…plus you can get a small bottle for under 2 bucks at Walmart (over in the craft paint aisle).

Paint the Pressed Flower Clay Plaques

supplies for making a pressed flower plaque

Now, this would be an optional step. The clay plaques look beautiful just the way they are but I wanted to add a little color to my set,

For this part, I grabbed some leftover paint from a kit and a few paint pens. You could definitely personalize the paint to fit with your surroundings or the colors that you love!

painting flowers on clay

I used a teeny paintbrush to add small amounts of paint into the impressions left by the leaves. I wasn’t trying to fill in every part of the leaves with paint…just a light touch.

closeup of a pressed flower impression in clay

When I was using the paint pen, I added a little paint from the pen then used the tiny paintbrush to spread it through the flower impressions.

using a paint pen on clay

Putting the Plaques Together

a set of clay flower plaques

Once I had both pieces of clay painted it was time to put this project together!

If you want to hang your plaques this is when you would add sawtooth hangers to the backs of the frames for hanging, you would want to make sure that you attached the hangers to the thickest part of the wood at the top of the frames.

Using my hot glue gun (I use the Gorilla brand of glue sticks and they are worth the slightly more expensive price!! ) I put a zigzag of glue on the back of the clay and pushed it down onto the wood frame.

putting  a pressed flower plaque together

Finished Pressed Flower Clay Plaques

And here are the finished plaques!! Just in time to use in my Spring decorating…but they are really an all-season craft project.

pressed flower clay plaques

This Spring my entire vibe is natural elements and using lots of plants and greens along with organic colors… I might need a houseplant intervention soon!!!

…And isn’t this Better Homes & Gardens propagation station just adorable??!! It was under $15 from Walmart.com. It will look so sweet with small flowers later in the Spring too.

Other Decorating Ideas

How to Make an Easter Egg & Daffodil Spring Wreath

How to Fake Antique Gold Bunny Rabbit Statues

How to Make Vintage Style Easter Eggs

Easter graphic for pinterest

Easter Inspiration: 19 Pretty Easter Ideas to Inspire You

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Jennifer Howard

cottage on bunker hill

Thanks for stopping by today! Being able to share my projects, DIYs, and decorating ideas with you is amazing. Leave a comment below; I love hearing from you! Feel free to drop me a note here if you have any questions.

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By: Jennifer Howard · In: DECORATING, DIY Decorating Projects, Spring & Easter Ideas and Projects · Tagged: diy decor, diy wall art, spring decor

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How to Make an Easter Egg & Daffodil Spring Wreath
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Nicolle says

    March 29, 2022 at 6:57 am

    Jennifer I absolutely love this idea! Pinning this for later! Thank you for the inspo.

    Reply
    • Jennifer Howard says

      April 1, 2022 at 12:24 pm

      Thanks, Nicolle!!

      Reply
  2. Rachelle says

    March 24, 2022 at 8:28 pm

    Thanks for sharing at the Friday with Friends link party, Jennifer.
    Your craft will be one of the features this week!

    hugs,
    Rachelle

    Reply
    • Jennifer Howard says

      March 25, 2022 at 5:57 am

      Oh, thanks so much, Rachelle!!

      Reply
  3. Lynne Zemaitis says

    March 22, 2022 at 6:00 pm

    These are amazing!! I love the organic look of these plaques! I am excited to feature your post at the Tuesday Turn About link party. Thank you for sharing!!

    Reply
    • Jennifer Howard says

      March 23, 2022 at 10:13 am

      Thank you, Lynne!! That’s exciting!!

      Reply
  4. Carol says

    March 19, 2022 at 9:57 am

    Your pressed-flower plaques are lovely. They look as pretty as the expensive ones from Magnolia.
    Carol
    http://www.scribblingboomer.com

    Reply
    • Jennifer Howard says

      March 23, 2022 at 7:59 am

      Thanks, Carol!! Next up I want to make some just like the Magnolia ones…it’s on my ever-growing project list!!

      Reply
  5. Rachelle says

    March 18, 2022 at 9:01 pm

    I love projects that are like this one. Simple, inexpensive, and beautiful! I would love it if you would share this at my Friday With Friends link party: https://myhubbardhome.com/friday-with-friends-advancing-into-spring-link-party/

    Thanks,
    Rachelle

    Reply
    • Jennifer Howard says

      March 19, 2022 at 7:51 am

      Thank you so much…I’m going to do it right now!! Sometimes I completely zone on adding to link parties (there are so many things to remember!!)

      Reply
  6. Tammy says

    March 17, 2022 at 12:07 pm

    How fun, Jennifer. This is a great tutorial. I love these projects that don’t bust the budget. So great!

    Reply
    • Jennifer Howard says

      March 19, 2022 at 7:58 am

      Thanks, sweet friend!!

      Reply
  7. Sue Manz says

    March 11, 2022 at 12:41 pm

    Hi Jennifer I am really impressed you are very talented!!! I don’t know if you can help me? My sister lost her husband of 38 yrs to brain cancer. I am trying to figure out something special to do with her wedding picture. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Have a Blessed day

    Reply
    • Jennifer Howard says

      March 13, 2022 at 6:38 pm

      Sue, I’m going to think on it!! I’ll see what I can come up with for your sister. I’m so sorry for your family’s loss.

      Reply
  8. Angie @ Postcards from the Ridge says

    March 11, 2022 at 10:24 am

    This is such a pretty project. I love the handmade look and the organic feel of it. Thanks for the tutorial!!

    Reply
    • Jennifer Howard says

      March 13, 2022 at 6:34 pm

      Thanks, Angie!!

      Reply
  9. Pam says

    March 10, 2022 at 5:32 pm

    Love that you made this tutorial for us – thank you.
    Do have a question: If I wanted to make the plaques in white clay exactly like the Magnolia plaques, how do I do that?
    I want to do lavender on white plaques.
    Thank you again

    Reply
    • Jennifer Howard says

      March 11, 2022 at 8:23 am

      I want to try it too! I would definitely make them thicker than these. The only thing I haven’t worked out is how to hang them. I was figuring I could make an indent in the back of the clay with something…I’m still thinking about what and how though!!

      Reply
  10. Rachel Harper says

    March 10, 2022 at 3:24 pm

    Jennifer
    Such a cute idea.

    Reply
    • Jennifer Howard says

      March 11, 2022 at 8:15 am

      Thanks, Rachel!! It’s only been on my “want to make” list for 4 months!!!

      Reply
  11. Kathy Munday says

    March 10, 2022 at 12:00 pm

    LOVE. LOVE. LOVE the stems pressed in clay!!!! Can’t wait to try it!!! Thank you for sharing!!!❤️

    Reply
    • Jennifer Howard says

      March 11, 2022 at 8:15 am

      Thank you so much, Kathy!!!

      Reply

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Hey friends, I'm so glad you are here! I'm a life-long New England gal who started Cottage On Bunker Hill as a hub to share all my DIYs, decorating ideas, budget shopping ideas and so much more!!

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