Drying flowers

[Rosyrain]

When I was young I remember that a lot of people used to dry out their flowers and keep them pressed in books, use them for potpourri, and place them under glass. I have not seen anyone do this in a long time, do people still dry out flowers?

 

[claudine]

I dried out the first flower my boyfriend gave me. It's a poppy. I placed it under glass. It's very important to me, because I feel happy whenever I look at it

 

[Trellum]

To be honest I haven't heard of people doing such a thing in a long time as well, even back when they did I always wondered what the used of it really was. My grandma used to dry some but mostly for very specific purposes (to use in her photo albums) and also to use in her popurri candles.

 

[IcyBC]

You are right, I haven't seen anyone or know anyone who is still drying flowers and that including me! I used to pick flowers and pressed them in my books, and kept them hanging upside down to weave into my Christmas wreath.

You got me wanting to go back doing that

 

[Pat]

I dry my roses and any other flowers we may get to make a potpourri the I save in a large decorative vase or add to the one I purchase at the store to give the potpourri more volume.

 

[Greenhorn]

I found a couple books on drying flowers and making potpourri so we made some potpourri using plants and flowers from the yard. Generally you do need a potpourri fixative.

We recently repainted a room and my wife dried & pressed then framed 5 different kinds of purple flowers to decorate one wall. I made the presses out of plywood, cardboard and cargo tie down straps. Everything turned out very nice.

We still have one of those big thick dictionaries (that you don't see so much anymore)... as it has a couple of memorable corsages and flowers inside from special events.

 

[KimmyMarkks]

If I receive a special bouquet of flowers I will dry them out. I either hang them upside down on the wall or leave them dried up in the vase. I love the way it looks especially if it is a bouquet of red or colorful roses.

Its pretty simple to do. Once the fresh flowers start dying take them out of the water and hang them upside down. Once they are completely dried out (it usually takes a few days) you can either leave them hung up or put them in a pretty vase.

 

[amelia88]

I used to love pressing flowers between the pages of a heavy book back when I was younger. And I too, dried out the first rose that my first boyfriend ever gave me. But it's been absolutely years since I've dried out a flower...I do think they can look quite attractive and rustic when they're dried in a display!

 

[LouisFerdinand]

How to dry and preserve whole flowers

 

[Susan BBPM]

When I was young I remember that a lot of people used to dry out their flowers and keep them pressed in books, use them for potpourri, and place them under glass. I have not seen anyone do this in a long time, do people still dry out flowers?

I think most of these 'crafty' type things have died off because cheap, mass produced imports from china make home made a bit pointless. I know a pressed flower with meaning is different, but when you can get something that looks good at first glance and costs pennies you start to think 'why bother'? Also, we can amuse ourselves with non-stop tv, movies, computer games, social media - you start to lose patience for what starts to seem like pointless hobbies that take too much patience.

I used to love crafts as a child - nothing made me happier. Yet nowadays it's hard to apply myself. Always I end up thinking 'what's the point?'. I'd like to get over that and get back to these little craft projects.

 

[LouisFerdinand]

I think most of these 'crafty' type things have died off because cheap, mass produced imports from china make home made a bit pointless. I know a pressed flower with meaning is different, but when you can get something that looks good at first glance and costs pennies you start to think 'why bother'? Also, we can amuse ourselves with non-stop tv, movies, computer games, social media - you start to lose patience for what starts to seem like pointless hobbies that take too much patience.

I used to love crafts as a child - nothing made me happier. Yet nowadays it's hard to apply myself. Always I end up thinking 'what's the point?'. I'd like to get over that and get back to these little craft projects.

@Susan BBPM, What was your favorite craft project?

 

[Susan BBPM]

@Susan BBPM, What was your favorite craft project?

I'm really talking about childhood / teens. Making things was my passion - from sewing rag dolls and teddies to making pretty much anything. I remember you used to get magazines that built up into folders full of different craft projects. My mum used to get a magazine - womans weekly or something and there was always a little project in that. So making a little minature dolls room, I remember a jack in the box made of cardboard and scraps of fabric.

I have a dolls house - I still like making things for that. My mum was amazing at detailed needle work and she hand embroidered all the carpets for the dolls house with really fine silks.