How to use flowers after they fade?

Most of you probably like flowers when they’re fresh and smell great. Although you know that flowers don’t last forever, every time you get a little upset when it comes to throwing them away.

Just because flowers fade doesn’t mean you should throw them away immediately. What if we say there’s a solution to give flowers another life? You just need to get all the moisture out of them and dry them in the right way. Read this article to know how to dry or press flowers correctly, how to use dried flowers, what decoration can make dried flowers, etc.

When it’s time to throw away flowers?

There’s nothing more beautiful and therapeutic than flowers in the room. Simply looking at them makes everyone smile. You can read more about the benefits of flowers here. Everyone probably wants to know how to prolong a flower’s life. However, the maximum number of days flowers can stay fresh is 10-12 days.

Every flower has a different lifespan. Even in the same bouquet, some flowers can fade sooner than others. So after some 5-7 days check if the stems of the flowers are still fresh and if they smell good. If in addition to the bad smell the blooms look faded, it’s time to use your flowers for another purpose.

The purpose of dried flowers

You’ll probably ask why you should dry your flowers after they completely fade. Why pile up things you will hardly use? The answer is simple – dried flowers make you look at the concept of beauty from another perspective. Besides, the idea of giving flowers another life by using them for completely different purposes is so unique. To keep dried flowers is to have something beautiful that holds memories.

There’re many ways you can use dried flowers. For example, you can press them and put them in the frame, add them to candles, arrange them in home décor, etc.

What can you make with dried flowers?

Candles

Even if you’re not a candlemaker but you have a candle (preferably the one in a jar), you can add flower petals to it. То do so, take your candle and slightly warm up the surface of it with a hairdryer or a match. As the wax melts, put the petals in the candle and let it dry.

Packaging

Whenever you want to send someone a gift, include a DIY card and stick a dried flower to it with a little glue as a cute decoration. You can simply stick dried flowers on top of the gift packaging too.

Cooking

If the flowers are edible and free from artificial dyes, you can use them in cooking too. Make floral tea mixes out of the most aromatic and delicious flowers. Add them to cakes, cupcakes, and any other dessert.

Frames

Make your unique art. Frame your dried flowers and hang them in your room. You can get creative and make other mini-art pieces out of the dried flowers.

Phone cases

This is one of the most creative and beautiful ways to always keep your favorite flowers closer to you. After drying and pressing your flowers stick them in your phone case with PVA glue.

Jewelry

Imagine you got a bouquet from a special someone. You’d probably like to keep it forever as the most precious memory. The same with the bouquet from your wedding/engagement day.

Here is one of the best ways to keep your flowers forever “alive” and closer to you. With little effort, you can make your favorite jewelry piece including dried flowers. There are many DIY tutorials on how to make jewelry with dried flowers on Youtube. Many jewelers take individual orders. So, if you don’t have time to make it yourself, give the dried flowers to the jewelers and let them create some forever-lasting magic.

How to press flowers in the microwave?

As we’ve mentioned, one of the best ways to preserve the flowers you have a connection with is by pressing them. Let’s discover step by step how to press the flowers.

Before starting, we want to let you know that some flowers keep their color after pressing and others don’t. However, every flower is beautiful in its way. Also, some thick flowers like roses are harder to press. If you’re a beginner, we recommend starting with thinner flowers or cutting thicker ones in half. Let’s go.

1. Prepare the flowers by removing the leaves and stems.
2. Place them on a piece of paper towel.
3. Make sure to place the blooms in the way you want them to dry.
4. Fold the paper towel so that it covers the flowers.
5. Put them in the microwave for 1.5 minutes.
6. Press flowers in the microwave with a heavy dish or anything flat.

Remove the heavy dish and check if your flowers are completely dry like paper. If yes, let them cool and then use them the way you want. If not, put them back in the microwave for another 30 seconds.

How to press flowers in the book?

In case you don’t have a microwave, here’s another simple way to press your flowers. This method takes time but it’s worth it. All you need is a heavy book and absorbent paper.

1. Prepare your flowers by removing unnecessary leaves, thorns, or stems.
2. Place absorbent paper on the book’s pages.
3. Put the flowers upside down on the paper.
4. Put more heavy books or objects on top of the book to create more press.
5. Place the book in a safe place for 3-4 weeks.

In case you want to simply dry your flowers not press them, simply tie a bunch of flowers with a ribbon and hang them upside down avoiding direct light. Leave them for 3-4 weeks. After they’re completely dry you can remove the leaves and stems and use them in one of the ways we recommended.

Now that you know how to treat the flowers after they fade, why not try some of the tricks yourself and make yourself happy? Isn’t it nice to have a chance to keep something as long as you want in a world where nothing is constant?

These tricks also prove that no flower arrangement is expensive. The price you pay for any flower arrangement is justified because you can use the flowers in so many ways even after they die.

Dried flowers keep special moments. We’re sure every time looking at them you’ll go back to the special day you got or bought that bouquet.

Hopefully, we inspired you to start noticing the beauty behind the idea of giving flowers another life.