Crafty Ways to Preserve your Favorite Bouquets

'Tis the season of beautiful bouquets. Whether you treated yourself or received flowers from someone special, preserving the blooms is a wonderful way to preserve your memories—and enjoy long-lasting splashes of color.

It's easy to make your flowers last and last if you follow a few basic guidelines. The cardinal rule of flower preservation is to use blooms at their peak of beauty and freshness. Any imperfections in the flowers will be doubly apparent when they're dried.

Air Drying
The simplest way to preserve your flowers is to remove leaves from the stems, tie a small bunch tightly together with string, and hang them upside down. Hang your flowers in a dark, nonhumid space like a closet or attic; they will take about three to four weeks to dry completely. When the flowers are dry to the touch, spray them with hair spray to help them hold their form.

Pressing Flowers
Flat, delicate flowers and foliage such as pansies, violas, Queen Anne's lace, and ferns do especially well when pressed. Place flowers between two clean sheets of paper and set them between the pages of a heavy telephone book or dictionary. Wait for a week to ten days, open the book—and voila!—beautiful, paper-thin blooms.

Silica Gel
You'll find silica gel in most craft and floral supply stores. It's actually not a gel at all, but a grainy substance that efficiently absorbs the moisture from flowers. Silica gel is popular because it preserves the flowers' original colors beautifully. Trim the flower stems, leaving only about an inch. Fill the bottom of an airtight container with a few inches of silica gel, and carefully place the blooms upright in the silica; cover the flowers with more silica gel, then let them sit for 3-4 days.

Instant Gratification
If patience isn't one of your virtues, you can even microwave your flowers. Use a microwave-safe container (make sure it's a container you don't use for food) and cover the flowers with silica gel. To ensure the flowers won't over-dry, place a small dish of water in the microwave also. Drying time is 1-3 minutes; be sure to let the silica gel cool completely before removing your flowers.

Once you've successfully dried your flowers, it's time to get creative. These crafts are simple and pleasing to the eye—and they make elegant, inexpensive gifts.

Petal Pusher
Pressed flowers are perfect for decorating blank note cards, bookmarks—even the cover of a hand-bound journal. Use tweezers to arrange the flowers in a pleasing design, then spread a light coating of clear-drying craft glue on the back with a small paintbrush.

Budding Beauty
Add dried flowers to a variety of materials to turn ordinary objects into objets d'art. Use an assortment of buds, craft glue, ribbon, and your imagination to jazz up plain wood picture frames, mirrors, and little boxes. Make your own spring bonnet by fastening a 2- to 3-inch ribbon around the brim of a plain straw hat and gluing buds along the edges.

A Plethora of Potpourri
Beautiful scented potpourri is hard to beat as an attractive room accent. Use an assortment of dried buds and petals (roses, carnations, and lavender are always popular), and boost the aroma by adding cinnamon sticks, orange peel, and essential oils.

The best thing about preserving beautiful flowers is that you can enjoy them for a year or more. The second best thing? Nobody will know how easy it was to make your crafts!

Genanne Walsh is a freelance writer specializing in health-related topics and a self-described lover of crafts and decorating. She last wrote for us on the topic of New Year's resolutions.