Decorating the Home With Preserved Fresh Flowers

Decorating your home with the use of fresh flowers would be a nice idea for you to work on especially during the Thanksgiving and Christmas season. However, fresh flowers do not stay fresh for long and so the decoration may not stay as fresh for an extended period of time. Preserving flowers is one way of making them last longer for you to appreciate the bloom of the flowers longer. Here are some methods in preserving flowers and some ideas on how you can make use of these preserved flowers to become a stunningly beautiful décor. Preserving Flowers In preserving flowers, you can follow the four basic methods that can help you preserve that beautiful flower that you would want to preserve. Depending on the flower, there are different ways on how you can preserve them. For one, flowers that feel dry and papery like the strawflower would be perfectly preserved through the wired-stem technique. This is the process wherein you just clip the bloom of the plant under the head of the flower. In using this strategy you need to use a flower that is starting to bloom. Then insert a florist wire that is 20 in gauge through the flower’s stem at the end of the head while pushing the other end of the wire into a foam board then let the flowers dry for 3 weeks. Another method of preserving is the upside-down drying method. This can be effective with a plant like globe amaranth. You can do this by cutting the stems of the flower just when the flower starts to show its color. Then hang the flowers upside down in an airy place to dry for about three weeks. Another method is with the use of a silica gel to aid the flower in drying. All you have to do is place the flowers heads up on a bed of silica gel which is 1 inch thick. Then sprinkle silica gel on top of the flowers gently and completely cover them and seal the container, letting the flowers dry at least two days or up to a week. Do not over dry the flowers because this may cause them to be brittle. The next step in preserving flowers is the pressing method. Simply arrange the flowers face down in a half folded paper towel or in newsprint. Make sure petals do not overlap. Fold the other half of the paper and carefully place the flowers in between the pages of a book. Then stack heavy books on top of it and allow two weeks for the flowers to be pressed. Decorating With Dried Flowers Now you are ready to make use of your dried flowers for decoration. The dried flowers can be used as a decoration for your greeting cards, for your labels or prints or a craft where dried flowers will match. You can make fern candles by drying down ferns and gluing them at the sides of the candles. These make a perfect Christmas centerpiece along with other flowers. You can also make flower mat prints with the use of the dried flowers. With the use of some wooden frames, Latex primer, latex paint, glue and stiff cardboard for backing, you can make a frame of dried flowers that you can use as a décor on your wall. Through this, you’ll have a great floral décor for your wall. Try doing these dried flower decorations and you will surely enjoy decorating your home with this cost-effective solution to getting affordable decorations that you can do to your own home.