Supplies
Tools
- Natural products that you can dry yourself or buy in the supermarket.
- Flowers, either whole, or flower petals (roses, pansies, everlasting flowers, hydrangeas, thistles, Baby’s Breath)
- Grains: wheat, oats…
- Dried fruit: citrus fruits, apples…
- Spices: cinnamon, cloves, star of anise…
- Also calabash, colocynth (A.K.A bitter apple), clover leaves, Physalis, Annual Honesty (Lunaria annua), and exotic plant elements (i.e: palm bark)
- Drying agents, glycerine…depending on the drying method chosen.
- For creating the arrangements, you will need: glue, raffia, oasis, and iron rods
Directions
How to dry flowers
Air Drying
- For whole flowers and grass, allow the heads to dry in a dry environment that is well ventilated and sheltered from light.
- For petals:
- Flatten between tracing paper in a heavy book for 2-3 weeks.
- (Or place the petals between two sheets of tracing paper and iron over the sheets at medium heat.)
- Alternatively you can heat your petals in the microwave for a few minutes: this is a quick drying method but your petals will not be very flat.
- Use glycerine to the preserve the colours of vegetables and especially leaves. Immerse the vegetables in a mixture of water and glycerine (half and half) until they start to discolour.
- Rinse and leave to dry flat.
Drying with Sand
Using sand for drying is the quickest and simplest way of drying.
- Fill a container (with cover) with cement sand and add the flowers
- Note: Only keep the heads of the flowers (with around 3cm of stem)
- Place the flowers in the sand towards the bottom of the container.
- For large flowers such as dahlias place them in the container with the heads close to the top.
- Re-cover the flowers with sand and close the lid.
- Allow to dry. Note: The drying time varies according to the size of the flower, but is always less than three weeks.
Drying using a Drying Agent
The drying agent is called the desiccant. This method is used mainly for delicate flowers.
With silica gel:
- In a jar add a one-centimetre layer of silica gel.
- Add the flowers and cover them carefully with another fine layer of silica.
- Cover the jar and leave to dry for about two days.
- Note: Silica gel comes in the form of small blue crystals that become pink when they absorb the humidity. They can be reused several times.
- Alternatively you can use borax or alum mixed with sand (in equal proportions)
- Follow the same method as silica gel, but leave to dry for one week.
Oven Drying
This method is mostly used for drying fruits (citrus fruits – oranges, lemons, limes and grapefruit…as well as apples etc.)
- Cut slices a few millimetres in thickness and place them on a baking tray in the oven for about two hours at 120°C (248°F)
- Turn the slices over halfway through cooking.
Tips
- It is best to cut flowers towards in late morning after the dew has evaporated and before the sun has wilted them.
- Store dried flowers out of the sunlight, in a dry environment, and in open bags.
- You can use spray paint to add a nice blue tint to your thistles, or make your creations more festive with a hint of silver or gold.
- To make and protect your project, you can use floral oasis (especially for dried flowers) as your base, or use metallic mesh placed in a pot.
Going further
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