Flowers hold an extraordinary place in our hearts. Whether it’s a long-stemmed rose received by someone special, a bridal bouquet, or a gorgeous collection of flowers handpicked by your children, we all hold sentimental values toward flowers, but their beauty, scent, and colour can rapidly degrade if we do not take measures to dry and preserve our flowers.

1.    How to Preserve Flowers After Drying

The air drying technique involves hanging your bouquet upside down, which strips excess moisture from the flower stems and preserves them. This process is lengthy and can take two to three weeks. The flowers must be kept in a well-ventilated and dry room so mold cannot attack and destroy the lovely petals.

• Remove extra foliage from your flowers and cut the stems until they are at least 6 inches long.
• Tie their stems together using a ribbon or rubber band.
• Hang them upside down, and make sure they are away from direct sunlight.
• When thoroughly dried, spray the flowers with hairspray to ensure the crispiness of the petals.

2.    How to Preserve Flowers in a Book

Pressing flowers in a book increases the time they take to dry out completely. On the bright side, it is easy to dry and preserve flowers if you do not want to keep their stems, and this process has little chance of messing up the preservation. Place your flower between waxed papers, which will absorb their moisture, and the result is a dried flower that is preserved forever.

• Take a heavy, preferably hardcover book.
• Trim the stems till the flower head.
• Open the book and place a sheet of waxed paper on it.
• Place the flower on top of it close to the middle of the book and gently press the book close, enclosing the flower between two sheets of waxed paper.
• From time to time, take out and replace the waxed paper.
• After four weeks, the flower is desiccated and preserved.

3.    How to Preserve Flowers in Resin

To preserve flowers in epoxy resin, dry them using the air drying method. Using your flowers, you can use resin moulds in any shape you like and create pendants, paperweights, or key chains. This process requires more work, as the setting of the resin is a tricky process.

• Mix equal amounts of resin and catalyst using the manufacturer’s instructions.
• Take a silicone container and pour the set epoxy resin.
• Delicately arrange your flowers any way you want, and then fill the rest of the container with epoxy resin.
• This method will create a beautiful decorative piece that will keep your flowers in bloom forever.

4.    How to Preserve Flowers in a Microwave

Flowers can be dried and preserved using a microwave and silica gel. This technique preserves the flowers’ colour so the microwave’s heat does not leech it out. Silica gel is a desiccant and helps drive moisture out from the flowers. This process is quick and used to preserve flower heads and small plants.

• Place your flowers in a container not used for food, and cover its bottom surface with a layer of silica gel.
• Place your flower blooms side up, and then delicately pour more silica gel over it.
• Heat it at various intervals, checking every few minutes to see if the flowers are completely dried.
• Let the flowers sit for 24 hours, after which you can brush off the gel from the petals with a brush.

Simple Décor Ideas for Your Preserved Flowers

1.     Frame Your Pressed Flowers

What’s a better decoration for your walls than your wedding bouquet? Pick out a few or all flowers from your bridal bouquet and frame them in however arrangement you like.

2.     Use Them in Scrapbooks

You can stick single or multiple flowers in your scrapbook and jot down the memories attached to those flowers in a scrapbook. You will have a tangible experience with the flowers whenever you open up the scrapbook and read its contents.

3.     Gift the Dried Flowers to Someone

Make resin ornaments and gift items using your dried flowers, which look aesthetic and natural and have emotions attached, which is much better than giving a meaningless gift to someone.

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