What to do with old holiday flowers

During the holidays, it’s all about making your home as warm and welcoming as possible. You want to really show off every beautiful corner of your house and make sure that your guests feel at home. Apart from your traditional Christmas tree, a wreath or two, and perhaps some potted poinsettias, you might also have fresh flower décor. When the holidays are over, however, your Christmas tree either gets removed or packed away, the same goes for your wreaths, and your poinsettias can remain on display. As for those once fresh and beautiful bouquets of flowers, you’ll want to put them to good use before they wilt completely.

Whether you wish to press or dry your bouquets, you will need to do so before the petals start to deteriorate. Once you notice your first flower in the bunch start to wilt or perish, it’s time to prepare the press or get ready to hang the bunch. Hanging upside down is a highly effective way of drying most types of flowers. There are some exceptions, of course, and it’s important to keep your drying bouquet out of any windy areas.

Once you have pressed or dried your flowers, you will need to store them in airtight containers to keep out moisture. It’s also a good idea to keep them in a dark place so that they don’t fade. When you are ready to use them, simply unpack and enjoy!

Your pressed flowers can be used in many great decorative projects. From making flower paper and floral cards to decoupage and potpourri. Remember, during the drying or pressing process, some flowers are bound to get damaged but it’s important to remember that all hope is not lost! Use broken leaves and petals to make your own potpourri! It’s the perfect scented delight for any home!

If you realize that your flowers have already reached the point of no return and you cannot press them, remember that drying for potpourri is always an option. Another option for flowers that have reached their expiration date is to avoid filling up your trash. Instead, create your own natural compost heap in a corner or your garden and give something back to Mother Nature.

Remember, if you have any particularly festive-looking flowers, you should definitely press them and use them to decorate your gift bags or boxes next Christmas! A bit of planning ahead of time will make it that much easier to put together truly personalised gifts!