Pressed Flower Resin Coasters: Preserve Summer Blooms All Year

Every summer my garden goes a bit wild, and by August I have more cosmos, pansies, and ferns than I know what to do with. A few years ago I started pressing the extra blooms between the pages of an old phone book, and now those flattened flowers live on in coasters that get used every single day. This project is forgiving, beginner-friendly, and endlessly customizable.

You will need epoxy resin (the kind sold for casting, not just coating), a silicone coaster mold, dried pressed flowers, tweezers, a small kitchen scale, two mixing cups, stir sticks, and a heat gun or hairdryer. Work in a well-ventilated space and wear nitrile gloves. Resin is sticky, so cover your table with parchment or a silicone mat before you start.

Preparing Your Flowers and Workspace

The drying step matters more than people expect. Fresh flowers hold moisture, and trapped moisture creates cloudy spots or bubbles later. Press your blooms for at least two weeks, or speed things up with a microwave flower press. Thick flowers like roses do better when you separate the petals first. Ferns, delphinium, pansies, and daisies press beautifully and keep their shape.

Once your flowers are flat and papery, lay them out on a sheet of paper in the arrangement you want. Snap a phone photo so you can recreate the layout later. This saves a lot of fiddling once resin is mixed. Set up your mold on a level surface, because resin self-levels and any tilt will give you lopsided coasters.

Mix your resin according to the package instructions. Most brands use a 1:1 ratio by volume, but always read your specific bottle. Stir slowly for a full three minutes, scraping the sides and bottom of the cup. Slow stirring is the single best way to avoid bubbles. Let the mixed resin sit for five minutes so bubbles can rise, then pop them with a quick pass of the heat gun.

Pouring, Layering, and Curing

Pour a thin base layer into each mold, about a third of the way up. This gives your flowers something to sit on so they do not float to the top. Let it thicken for twenty to thirty minutes, until it is tacky but not fully set.

Using tweezers, place your flowers face-down or face-up depending on the look you want. Face-down gives a smooth, glassy surface with the flower silhouette showing through. Face-up shows the petals in detail but you will pour a clear top layer over them. Press gently so the flowers make contact with the tacky base.

Pour the remaining resin over the flowers, filling each mold to the rim. Pop bubbles again with the heat gun, holding it several inches away and moving constantly. Cover the mold with a cardboard box to keep dust out and let it cure for twenty-four to seventy-two hours, depending on the brand.

Once fully hard, flex the silicone mold and pop the coasters out. If the edges feel sharp, sand them lightly with fine-grit wet sandpaper. Add a felt pad to the back if you want to protect wood furniture. These make lovely gifts, and each batch uses up flowers that would otherwise go to the compost.