How to Dry and Preserve a Bouquet

Introduction

Many people are afraid of buying or gifting flowers because they worry that the flowers will rot away soon. Many would then forgo these romantic gifts for something more practical. With this guide, people can create opportunities to turn, what was a waste, into decorations. In the scenarios that the flowers are for special celebrations, the drying preservation is not only for the flowers but also for the precious moments of celebration.

What you need

Step 1 Prepare a bouquet

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First and foremost, prepare a bouquet, which may come from your friends or parents as a present, or brought home from a grocery shopping trip. It is advisable to choose colorful flowers for better results.

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Step 2 Use scissors to cut each stem

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Once you have the flowers, use scissors or cutters to cut each stem to expose a slanted surface, making each stem look like the sharp end of a straw.

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Step 3 Add supplements in the water

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The purpose of the second step is made clear in the third step: the slanted surface maximizes the surface contact with water, making the flowers more durable and vibrant while you enjoy them in a water-filled vase.
Optionally, you may add supplements in the water, like flower food, to enhance the blossoms.

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Step 4 Wait several days and enjoy

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After a few days on display, the flowers would reach their peak of liveness, which is also the best time to begin drying.

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Step 5 Use scissors to cut the tip of the petals

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As the fifth step, use scissors to carefully cut the tip of the petals to create leveled planes for each blossom. If each petal were kept at a different length, the drying process would happen unevenly across different parts of the blossom.

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Step 6 Dry up the bouquet

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In the sixth and most crucial step, use ropes or strings to tie the stems separately to a drying rack or cloth hangers upside-down. Place the rack or hangers at a ventilated place for it to naturally dry up in one or two weeks.

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Step 7 Put in a vase

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At the ending of the drying process, the criteria for properly dried flowers are that the stems are hard like a wood branch and the petals are darker in color.
Finally, bundle all the flowers together to put in an empty vase that you like to enjoy for a long while.

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