Preserving Bouquets: What to Do with Dried Flower Bouquets
Needless to say, as the bouqet started to dry out I started thinking of ways I could keep it. The problem was that it was enormous – a bouquet of that size will never look quite “right” left as-is. It would look just what it is: a dead bunch of flowers. What I kept remembering, though, was this gorgeous vase that my younger sister had. It was filled with dozens and dozens of red roses – fake, but made so well that they looked like aged, beautifully dried roses. I’d never seen a centerpiece that lovely before, and have long envied her for it.
So, before the flowers could dry on their own and become too brittle to rearrange, I started searching. What I came up with is a process to dry whole flowers (not pressed flowers – whole buds perfectly preserved), and a pretty centerpiece that, while it’s not the shining glory of my little sister’s, is proudly sitting on my tabletop. And, I didn’t have to throw out my first bouquet after all.
Drying Whole Flowers
The first step in creating a dry flower bouquet is getting – what else? – dried flowers. You can make them yourself for much, much less than what you’d ever purchase them for. I did some research, and it’s actually cheaper than purchasing silk flowers, too.
To begin, you need some basic supplies – many of which you’ll probably already have at home:
*Shoe box
*Waxed paper
*Corn meal
*Borax
*Salt
*Plastic mixing spoon
*Measuring cup
*Measuring spoons
*Mixing bowl
*Fresh flowers
Now that you have the supplies, it’s time to get going. Here’s the process:
1. Fully line the shoebox with waxed paper. Don’t worry too much about making it “fit” the sides – it can be a cup shape and it will work just as well. The drying mix will weight the sides down, too, so make sure that the waxed paper overlaps the top a bit.
2. Combine 1-1/2 cups cornmeal, 1-1/2 cups borax, and 4 tablespoons of salt in a mixing bowl. Still well, blending the ingredients evenly. This is your flower drying mix. It will draw the moisture out of your flowers more quickly than air alone, preserving the buds in all their glory. Pour this mixture into the shoebox, spreading it evenly until it is about 1 inch deep.
3. Now, you need to trim the flowers. They should each have about two inches of stem, and very few (if any) leaves. The stems can be “faked” later with florist tape and wire to make them longer, if you need, and leaves are part of what make the dried flowers look dead rather than dried.
4. Carefully place the fresh flowers top-down into the drying mix. Stems should be sticking up, towards you. This aids in drying and helps the flowers retain color … I’m certain there’s science behind it, but I don’t know what it is. I just know it works.
5. After placing your flowers in the mixture, gently pour more flower drying mix over them until they are completely covered. This will take some patience as the flowers will try toppling on you a few times as you pour in more mix. Just keep them buried and pour gently. Then, place the lid on your shoebox and put the whole thing in a cool, dry place. Leave it for 2 or 3 weeks.
Some flowers will take longer than 3 weeks to fully dry. You don’t want any moisture left in your flowers before you try using them, because they can (and usually do) mold. If your flowers aren’t fully dried out when you first check them, replace the mix and the lid, and leave them for another week.
A Dried Rose Centerpiece
One of these days, I’ll get down to creating a full bouquet that will rival my sisters. Hey, sibling rivalry is a life-long thing. In the meantime, I wanted something that would preserve my first bouquet and allow me to continue displaying it.
The centerpiece I created is beyond simple and takes very few supplies. You’ll need:
1 dozen dried roses
Several sprigs of dried baby’s breath
1 shallow dish (a shallow ceramic 9″ pie pan is what I used)
1 votive candle
First, place the votive candle directly in the center of your dish. Then it’s time to play with the flowers.
Most of the roses in this centerpiece are going to become nothing more than petals. Set aside about five roses that are so beautifully preserved that you can’t bear the thought of breaking them, and carefully remove the petals from the remaining roses.
Evenly spread the petals around the dish, creating a “bed” that surrounds your votive candle. Then, scatter the whole roses on top of the bed.
The baby’s breath is the final touch. You’ll want to break the sprigs apart so that they’re not too thick, and much shorter than original. Most of the sprigs should be placed near the center, in the space between the dish edge and the votive candle. Sprinkle as much baby’s breath as you’d like, wiggling the stems into the rose-petal bed.
If you’d like your centerpiece to be more permanent, you could start out with florist foam or an acrylic “water” mixture. Either of these will help hold stems in place, but the water mixture will also hold petals in place and create a liquid-looking bed. It hardens like plastic, though, so make sure you’re happy to lose the dish you use!
Now you can sit back, light the candle, and enjoy the beauty of your crafting.
