How to recycle flowers
Fresh flowers are perfect for decorating your home as well as gifts for all occasions. Whether you order flowers for yourself or you receive a fresh flower delivery from a loved one, you never want their beauty to end. The good news is that you don’t have to. You can enjoy your bouquet for that much longer thanks to these tips. Here’s how you can recycle flowers and make the most of every petal.
Pressing
One of the top ways to recycle flowers is to press them. When you press flowers, it’s important to do so before the petals start to dry out. Dried petals cannot be pressed because they will break. It’s also important that you either make a press, buy one or at least use heavy items like thick books to apply enough weight. Flowers need to be pressed between parchment paper and you need to make sure that you give it enough time. After about two weeks, you can check on your flowers and see if they are ready. If they are still soft and they have not completely dried out, you should place them in the press again and wait another few days before checking again.
Uses for pressed flowers
After pressing your flowers, there are a number of ways to use them. Pressed flowers can be used to create art, greeting cards and you can even make your own floral gift boxes. If you have children, you can even let them express their creativity by creating various forms of art using pressed flowers.
Potpourri
Not all flowers are suited for pressing. Sometimes flowers wilt and start to dry out before we have the chance to preserve them in another way. Potpourri requires dried flower material and essential oils. Use a clay or ceramic bowl and enjoy the new scent of your home or office. When selecting flowers for potpourri, make sure that you use petals that do not disintegrate once dried. Rose petals are the most popular because of their thickness and size. When choosing essential oils, remember that they are very potent and you only need a few drops. You can blend them with a carrier oil or create a mixture that you can spray lightly over the petals. You can choose a single type of oil or you can blend more than one to enjoy even more benefits.
Rosewater
Roses are known for their many uses. One of which being rosewater. You can create your very own rosewater face mist and enjoy the anti-inflammatory properties of these blooms. Not to mention the lovely scent.
Dried flowers
Just like pressing, when you recycle flowers by drying them, you need to make sure that you select the right blooms and begin the drying process while they are still fresh. Some flowers are too delicate for drying. Flowers like roses are perfect because they hold their shape. They will darken as they dry but they will still look beautiful. To help them maintain their shape, you should hang them upside down
Using dried flowers
Dried flowers can be displayed in vases, used to create wreaths, dried flower crowns and so many other wonderful crafts. You will need to work quite carefully with these flowers but, once you are done, you will have a display that you can enjoy for years.
These are just some of the best ways to recycle flowers. Remember that you should never use flowers or plant material that has signs of mould or mildew. Be sure to inspect your flowers for any bugs too.