How to Dry Craft Flowers

Drying flowers to use in future crafts is a great way to preserve beautiful buds and blooms. You can use dried flowers by incorporating them into a holiday wreath or your home decor. Dried flowers also make lovely bouquets and potpourri. Take into consideration the type of flowers you're drying. Some fare better than others during the preservation process. Hardier blooms such as roses and lavender are best. There are a couple of different ways of drying craft flowers. Larger flowers and flowers with stems dry better through the hanging method, while smaller blossoms dry well using silica.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Kitchen twine
• Clothes hanger
• Hair spray or acrylic spray
• Silica gel
• Covered Tupperware
• Fine-bristled brush
• Microwave

Hang Drying Method

1. Cut flowers by the stem.

2. Tie kitchen twine around a bunch of stems. You also can use sturdy string or dental floss, whatever you have handy. Leave enough extra string to tie the flower bundle to the clothes hanger.

3. Tie the string attached to the flower bundle to a clothes hanger so the flower heads hang upside down.

4. Hang the clothes hanger with the flowers in a dark, well-ventilated area.

5. Let the flowers dry for two or three weeks. Once you remove the dried flowers, spray the blooms with hair spray or acrylic spray to keep the petals intact.

Microwave Drying Method

6. Pour an inch or two of silica gel into the bottom of microwave-safe Tupperware. You can buy silica at any craft store.

7. Lay the flowers in the Tupperware with the blossoms facing upward, on top of the silica.

8. Pour more silica gel on top of the flowers so they are completely covered.

9. Place the Tupperware in the microwave and set the temperature to the "Defrost" setting. Microwave the flowers for two to five minutes. Increase the time if the flowers are not dry after five minutes.

10. Immediately cover the Tupperware containing the flowers once the flowers have dried. Then open the cover just a tiny crack, and allow to set for 24 hours. Brush off the dried flowers using a fine-bristled brush and set with hair spray or acrylic spray.

References

• Pro Flowers: How to Dry Flowers