It's officially spring, and that means more sunshine, longer days, and the arrival of spring flowers! Flowers are starting to bloom all around Seattle, and we're also seeing them return to our local farmer's markets. We love having flowers in our homes and gardens during this season, but what to do when your they start to wilt (and you don't want to toss your bouquet the compost)? The answer: dry them! We turned to A Pair & A Spare (one of our favorite blogs) for inspiration - founder Geneva demonstrates how to go about drying your favorite blooms in her post "Five Simple Ways to Dry Flowers."
Geneva hanging flowers to dry. Photo Credit: A Pair & A Spare
Many of you are probably familiar with the first two options. Option number one is to air dry your flowers. Geneva suggests binding them with a rubber band and hanging them upside down in an area where they can avoid direct sunlight. After a couple of weeks, they should be dry and ready to be displayed!
Option number two is another perennial favorite, pressing flowers! Geneva shares her tips on how to get the best results from this process in a more extensive post here.
Prep for pressing flowers. Photo Credit: A Pair & A Spare
Options three, four and five were new to us! Did you know you can dry flowers with silica gel or by covering them in sand??? We sure didn't. You can also dry them in the oven, just be careful not to burn them!
Geneva arranging a bouquet. Photo Credit: A Pair & A Spare