Activity Overview
When our gardens are in full bloom, we often wish that they would stay around forever. Why not preserve some of the magnificent displays of fresh flowers so that you can incorporate them into a wide variety of craft and art projects for many years ahead.
Pick flowers that can lay somewhat flat for best results. Some of our favorites include daisies, cherry blossoms, mums, pansies, violets, gerbera daisies and more. Once the drying process is complete, store the dried masterpieces in sealed plastic containers or carefully placed ziplock bags. Use the dried flowers to accent wreaths, make homemade notecards, lay on display under glass, or simply to decorate your artwork.
Materials Needed
- 1 1/2 cups of Borax laundry booster
- 3 cups of cornmeal
- Fresh cut flowers from the garden
- A cardboard shoe box
- Scissors
How to Do It
- Mix the borax laundry booster and the cornmeal together so that it is evenly distributed.
- Pour about half of the dry mixture into the shoe box and spread out to cover the bottom of the box.
- Snip the stems off of the fresh cut flowers.
- Place the flowers face down into the dry mixture keeping the flowers as flat and evenly spaced out as possible.
- Gently pour the rest of the mixture over the the flowers until they are completely covered over.
- Fit the shoe box cover back into place and set the box in a dry place where it can remain undisturbed for the period of about 4 weeks.
- Store in ziplock bags for plastic containers once they are completely dry and use for craft projects for many years to come.
