It’s always a good time to pick up a new hobby. Especially one that decorates your home beautifully.
Dried flowers play an important role in many crafts and are easy to prepare. They’re also free if you have generous neighbours or grow your own flowers.
Give these crafty ideas a go next time you’re looking for a creative activity. Every craft uses common household materials and suits all crafting abilities. If you stock up on materials in advance, you could spend a full day crafting!
Floral Wreath
Take inspiration from nature and your interior décor when choosing the floral design for your wreath. Hoop wreaths are simple, modern, and look beautiful hanging as a feature on a wall.
Equip yourself with dried flowers, an existing hoop or wire and wire cutters, some florist twine or hot glue and a hot glue gun.
If you don’t want to dry your own flowers at home, you could purchase some from a local florist or flower wholesaler. Alternatively, sparse wreaths can be dried after they have been created.
How to
1. Lay your wreath on a flat surface.
2. Begin with the largest pieces of greenery and position them around the wreath.
3. Once you’re happy with the positions and density of the greenery, attach it to the wreath being careful to hide the florist twine or glue from sight.
4. Select the largest flower heads and position them around the wreath. Slide the stems in between the greenery and fix them into place.
5. Now take any smaller flowers and slide their stems between the rest to fill the gaps and create a balanced wreath design. Fix these in place as well.
6. Let the wreath dry if you’ve used hot glue.
7. Carefully lift your wreath and very gently shake it to check all the foliage has been secured.
8. You may choose to hair spray your wreath for longevity.
9. Hang your new wreath out of direct sunlight so that it will retain its colour for as long as possible. And enjoy!
Important Notes:
For best results, begin with pre-dried flowers. That you have dried or purchased. These will have been dried flat or hung, ensuring that the flower head and stem positions are as straight as possible.
If you’re working with pre-dried flowers, know that they’re brittle and are likely to crumble or break if you’re firm with them. But note that imperfection is part of their charm.
If you choose to use fresh flowers and dry them once on your wreath, be warned that the flower heads and stems may droop before drying.
Remember that when you’re ready to refresh your floral wreath with new flowers or a different design, your flowers and greenery are completely compostable. You can then sustainably build a new wreath on the original wire hoop. A great way to have home décor that changes with the seasons.
Flower Crowns
This is a fun way to accessorise with garden foliage. You won’t need much equipment, just greenery and flowers of your choice, some florist wire, floral tape in a similar colour to your flowers (or hot glue), and something to cut the wire with.
Flower crowns are like floral wreaths but lighter and daintier. They can be made with dried flowers or fresh flowers. Where wreaths are often heavier with greenery and punctuated with flowers, crowns tend to be lighter on greenery with more flowers. Experimentation is the best approach.
How to
1. Shape the florist wire into a ring that rests well on your head – as a crown would. Use a few lengths of wire to build a sturdy ring. If you’re using minimal flowers, this will work well. If you’re planning a fuller foliage design, cut your florist wire at a point and attach a ribbon to each open end. This will enable you to loosen and tighten the crown as needed.
2. Attached any greenery first, then larger flower heads, finally finishing with small flowers.
3. Carefully lift your crown and gently shake it to ensure that every piece is well attached.
4. All that’s left is to rest your crown on your head and practice your royal wave. Hair clips may come in handy when being worn for a long time. And if you want your dried flower crown to last more than one wear, it’s worth hair spraying the flowers.
Flower crowns are a great individual or group craft activity. And they’re a lovely idea for a baby shower, bridal shower, birthday celebration, or a Wednesday. When you’re finished wearing your crown it can be hung as pretty DIY décor.
Potpourri
A fun way to make everything in your house smell divine! Potpourri is a playful DIY experiment. Filled with pretty flowers and lovely scents. Potpourri is a mixture of dried flowers (and sometimes spices) dried with essential oils to boost their fragrance. It’s often found in clothing drawers or linen cupboards, and even out in the open resting in dishes to help the home smell delicious.
This activity requires a little extra effort and children may need help with this craft as the oven is involved.
Roses are said to produce the best and most longest-lasting scent in potpourri, but you can choose any flower that dries well. Essential oils are the secret ingredient that helps potpourri endure. If you notice that your potpourri mix is starting to lose its scent, add a few extra drops of essential oil to revitalize it.
How to
Follow this link to your ‘How to make potpourri’ article: https://www.rymanhealthcare.co.nz/lifestyle/arts-and-crafts/how-to-make-potpourri
Floral Resin Jewellery
Here’s a craft project for some of the more advanced DIYers among us. Most of the steps to making these unique resin flower pendants are doable for all levels of crafters, but a little extra help may be required when it comes to using and setting the resin. Don’t be concerned if it takes a few attempts to ensure your finished product is air bubble-free, as this is often a common occurrence for crafters new to resin.
A resin flower pendant craft is a great way to make your favourite dried flowers part of your everyday style uniquely and subtly. Once you get the hang of this craft, they’re also the perfect gift for fellow flower lovers. They’re so easy to personalise and turn into a thoughtful gift for friends and family. The options for how you arrange the flowers in your pendant are endless, so you’re guaranteed a beautiful and unique piece of jewellery every time.
You’ll need a jewellery resin, plastic measuring cups, silicone moulds, dried flowers that will fit your resin mould, gloves, respirator, wooden sticks, toothpicks, paper towels, straw, pendant loops or jewellery bail, and jewellery chain or ribbon.
How to
This is a necklace, but the principles apply to other resin jewellery.
1. Make sure that the flowers you are using are completely dry. You can air dry them, press them in a book, press with an iron, experiment with oven dehydration, or use desiccating powder. If there is any moisture left in your flower it will react with the resin and change colour.
2. Use gloves and a respirator in a well-ventilated area when working with resin. Mix equal amounts of resin and hardener into one measuring cup and stir continuously with your wooden stick for 2 minutes. Scape the sides of the container to ensure all the liquid is mixed in.
3. Pour the mixed resin into a second cup and stir for 1 minute.
4. Carefully pour the resin into your resin mould.
5. Place and arrange your flowers in the mould, inside the resin. Check carefully for bubbles around the base of the flower using your toothpick.
6. Cover your resin to avoid dust or pet hair sticking to it. Set aside for 25 minutes.
7. Return and remove any air bubbles that have risen to the surface by gently blowing over the resin through a straw. Wait another 20 minutes and repeat if required.
8. Cover and set aside to cure overnight.
9. Remove your pendant from the jewellery mould and add your jewellery bail or make a hole for your pendant loop and string with a chain or ribbon.
10. Wear proudly and lap up those compliments!
Dried Flower Frame
Looking for a seasonal décor revamp? Dried flower frames to the rescue! All you need are some dried flowers and greenery, a hot glue gun, and a few up-cycled picture frames. If you don’t have any at home, stop by your nearest thrift store for an eclectic range.
You can create any combination you like with these frames, it’s all down to personal taste and which flowers you prefer. A set of three or four frames spaced evenly against a wall with similar flowers and greenery is a gorgeous statement piece. Alternatively, hanging frames with distinctly different palettes that complement each other is visually stunning.
How to
1. Remove the glass and backing from your picture frame to keep it clean and set it aside.
2. Lay your empty frame on a flat surface.
3. Begin with any greenery, carefully attaching it to the frame hiding the glue.
4. Remove any stems from your flowers.
5. Position the larger flower heads around the frame. You might choose to concentrate these in the corners for a pretty border effect. Attach these while hiding the glue.
6. Fill any gaps or add texture to your design with the smaller flowers and seed pods. Again, attach carefully to hide the glue. The smaller your flower heads, the harder this gets!
7. Return the glass and backing to your frame and either hang it on a wall out of direct sunlight or position it in an area frequently used so it gets the attention it deserves. Flower frames are also a great gift idea.
If you’re ready for more crafty dried flower ideas, there are plenty living on the internet. Simply search ‘dried flower craft’ into your internet search bar and scroll the results. The best part about using dried flowers is that they’re compostable when you’re next ready to refresh your décor. Perfect for seasonal decoration and festive celebrations.
