Ever seen those classy keychains and jewelry made of dried flowers and resin on Etsy? Ever lost yourself over the beauty of vases filled with a variety of expensive-looking dried flowers? But you just can’t buy them due to their unreasonable price. Those heavy price tags are justified, as they are handmade and gorgeous. But your pocket should not be a hurdle between you and anything that catches your heart. So here we are, with a list of tried and tested DIY- how to try dry flowers; both ways to dry flowers, and ideas to use dry flowers.
How to Dry Flowers- Method #1: Microwave
This is the quickest method to dry flowers in this list of DIY- how to try dry flowers. This works on almost all the flowers that can fit in your microwave. By using this method, Flowers are more likely to retain most of their vibrant colors.
- Get microwave safe a container that you may not want to use for food after this.
- Pour a thick layer of silica gel or silica sand, about 1-2 inches.
- Dip the flowers in, blossom up.
- And then cover the flowers with more silica gel or sand.
- Pour the gel in such a manner that flowers do not get smashed.
- Do not cover the container.
- Place a cup of water along with the container in the microwave.
- The time and temperature vary from flower to flower, so you may want to do proper research here. Small flowers like pansies, heather, buttercup, and baby breath will take 1-2 minutes. Medium-sized flowers with several petals like larkspur, daisy, aster, delphinium, and foxglove may need 2-3 minutes. Dense flowers like rose, orchid, Gardenia, carnations, chrysanthemum, marigold, hydrangea and snapdragon will take 3-3.5 minutes.
- Once the microwave ring, take the container out and immediately cover it in such a way that only a centimeter is left open. Leave it buried for 24 hours.
- Clean the flowers and then spray with acrylic spray (this step is for silica gel only).
How to Dry Flowers- Method #2: Air Dry
This method takes more time, approximately 3-4 weeks, as you let nature do all the work. For this method, you may want to choose flowers with less water, or else the flower will rot away before it dries out. This means it works on flowers like larkspurs, poppies, starflowers, cornflowers, roses, love in a mist, hydrangeas, lady’s mantle, globe thistle, dahlias, strawflowers, African marigolds, and lavenders.
- Whatever you choose, pick it when it is not fully bloomed so that it will fully open while drying.
- Gather your desired flowers in bunches and remove all the excessive number of leaves and cut the stem as per your preferences.
- Secure the bunches with a string and tie them down a hanger, stick, hook, or anything strong enough to hold the flowers till they are perfectly dried.
- To protect the colors, make sure to keep them away from strong wind and sunlight.
How to Dry Flowers- Method #3: Press Flowers
This method is best if you want to make a card, scrapbook, bath bomb, tag, or want to give something a vintage love hint. When our grandparents used to preserve each other’s gifted flowers in books along with the letters, with all the history of love being attached to it, this is an old method which is exactly what makes it special and thus our best pick in this list of DIY- how to try dry flowers.
It will take nearly 30 days for perfect results. It works on flowers like cosmos, gladiolus, pansies, California poppies, nicotiana, Larkspur, and Anne’s lace.
- Simply take the flower and put it in between a flower press or a book.
- Make sure to cover the flower with nonbleached papers if the book is printed.
- We would recommend you use notebooks with plain, unused pages to avoid the transfer of ink, dye, or print.
- Either secure it tightly with a belt or a tie or just put the book under something heavy to keep it pressed.
Which Method is Best for What?
How to Use Dried Flowers?
Get your inspirations from Pinterest. Dried flowers can be used in:
- Vases
- Card
- Centerpiece
- Rasin art
- Scrapbook
- Jewelry
- Wall hanging art
- Tag
- Keychains
- Bookmarks
- Tiaras
- Wallpaper
- Homemade wreath
