Uses for Flowers
Flowers have become some what a Valentine's Day tradition. They are a simple gift idea that men cannot really get too wrong, which requires little thought and even less pre-planning. So unless they choose a type of flowers their partner is allergic to, generally it is a fairly welcomed present. Although, whilst most woman love the thought of a beautiful bunch of fresh flowers on this romantic day of the year, others do not see the appeal. It comes down to the thoughts of well yes, flowers are pretty, but what do I do with them once they start to die and lose their visual appeal. That is where creativity comes in.
One way to keep a bunch of flowers, long after their day has come and gone, is to create a pressed version of them on paper. This has become increasingly popular with brides, so they can keep their wedding bouquet as a further memory of their special day. The same can be done with a bunch of Valentine's flowers.
To press flowers, you will need to do this when they are still fairly moist, before they start to go dry and shrivel. This is generally within a couple of days of receiving them at most, depending on your climate and how well flowers retain their life. There are two ways of doing this. You can either choose to press each flower individually, leaving it relatively in tack, but in a flatter form, or you can take each flower apart, petal by petal and press them individually. The first allows a simple process of arranging the flowers later as you please, however the later allows you to recreate each flower as you please. If you are relatively new to flower pressing, perhaps stick with the whole flower option.
Unless you have an actual flower press, the best method is finding a stack of heavy books and think paper, such as absorbent paper toweling. Place the flowers between separate pieces of absorbent paper, being care to arrange them as you'd like them to appear once pressed. Ensure you place more paper on the top, using enough to prevent moisture seeping through and ruining the pages of your book. Then place the books under more books, to ensure heavy weight on the flowers. Leave them at least a week, checking after this time that they are complete dried out. Your flowers are then ready for arranging on paper, using a suitable craft or scrapbooking glue.
The other option for making your flowers last beyond Valentine's Day is drying them out and creating potpourri. To do this, break off the petals from the flowers and leave them in a cool, dry place, on absorbent paper. Once the petals have dried completely, you can mix them together in bowls, as a scented table decoration. Alternatively, you can also use your home made potpourri to create beautiful gift baskets and presents for friends, by scatting a handful into boxes or baskets so that when they open the gift, they get the scent of flowers. This works best with heavily scented flowers, such as roses.
So next time you receive Valentine's flowers and do not know what to do with them other than throwing them out after a couple of days, consider these simple steps in making the most out of your flowers.
