12 Ways to Reuse Flowers
So, you received a beautiful bouquet on a special occasion, or maybe the event was so special that you’d love to preserve the flowers forever as a keepsake. It makes you sad that they’ll end up in a trash bin in a couple of days. The good news is, they don’t have to! 5-Minute Crafts has a range of ideas on how you can repurpose flowers and give them a new life.
1. Make potpourri
Smell plays a very important part in memory. So, if you wish to relive your special occasion again and again, then you can make a potpourri out of your special flowers. It’s essential to use flowers that can retain their shape and colors after you dry them out. Although you can use any flower here, roses and lavender are usually preferred.
All you have to do is:
- Dry the flowers for a few days by air drying, microwaving, using silica sand, or a flower press
- Add a few drops of essential oils
- Bake the mixture
2. Decorate candles
You can customize a candle by placing some dried flowers into its wax. They may not add any scents to the room, but it will give the room a luxurious and cozy look.
All you have to do is:
- Begin by melting the wax in a saucepan.
- Add the dry flowers to a glass container. Make sure to clean it before you put flowers into it.
- Pour the melted wax into it. Use a wooden skewer to make sure that the flowers have sunken nicely in the wax.
- Add the candle wick, but if you wish to add essential oils, make sure to add it after the wax has cooled down so that the heat doesn’t make the oil smoke. Add the oil, stir the mixture, then put the wick in the center.
- Secure the wick in the center and once it reaches the bottom of the container, place a pencil on the top of the lid opening. Wrap the extra wick around the pencil so that it doesn’t sink in the liquid wax.
- Let the wax solidify.
3. Beautify your wall
If you have a blank and boring wall at home, you can spice it up by creating a backdrop of dried flowers.
All you have to do is:
- Stick them onto the wall upside down.
- Add a magical touch to this decor by putting up some string lights.
4. Press them in a glass
If you wish to remember your big day for the rest of your life, you can consider getting your bouquet or other wedding flowers dried and pressed in a glass to make it into a beautiful display. This will also decorate your wall gracefully.
5. Turn them into stationery
One more creative way to repurpose the flowers is by using them for decorating your gifts, greeting cards, or frames.
All you have to do is:
- Press the flowers under heavy books and between parchment sheets for at least 7-10 days to make them papery and dry.
- Then use acid-free archival glue to stick them on thick paper for decorating a card or a frame.
- You can also paste them on wrapping paper to make gifts look special.
6. Turn them into confetti
Usually, guests toss rice to celebrate a married couple, but you can go the eco-friendly way by using flower petals from your own floral arrangements to create a beautifully fragrant flower shower.
All you have to do is:
- Choose flowers that are already getting a bit old.
- Pick petals off the main stems and collect them in a tray.
- Leave the tray in the sun so that they become sun dried.
- If the day is not that sunny or you’ve limited time, place a baking paper on a tray, put the petals in it, and set it in the oven at 95 degrees Celsius for 10 minutes until they turn dry and crispy.
7. Make flower jewelry
If you are sad, parting with your beautiful wedding bouquet, then you can transform the flowers into jewelry. You can further gift these jewelry pieces or keep them as an heirloom to be passed onto future generations.
All you have to do is:
- Just keep some of the petals, dry them for a few weeks with the help of air drying or the microwave method stated above. If you are using small flowers instead of petals, then you can dry them by keeping them between the pages of a book for a week or so.
- Then prepare the jewelry base by painting it.
- In another container, mix half an ounce of resin and hardener.
- Then put a few color drops into the mixture to give color to the resin.
- Add the colored resin to the jewelry base.
- Put the flowers in the resin. Use a toothpick if there needs to be any adjustments made to the flower in the jewelry base.
- Let it dry for 24 hours. Seal the entire set with resin gloss sealer spray.
- Once dry, add an ounce of clear resin on top of it.
8. Make bath products
Try adding a creative twist to the old flowers by turning them into bath bombs or bath salts. There are a lot of recipes available online and they can be prepared in a couple of minutes by just using a few ingredients.
All you have to do is:
- Begin by combining a cup of Epsom salt, Dead Sea salt, and a half cup of baking soda in a bowl
- Mix them well.
- Then add flower pets and buds to the mixture.
- Lastly, add your favorite essential oils and mix them well.
9. Use them as manicure decoration
You can make your manicured nails look unique with the help of old, dried flowers.
All you have to do is:
- Dip them lightly in nail resin.
- Secure them in place with a few layers of top coating.
- Your beautiful nails are ready.
10. Frame your flowers
If you love dried flowers or want to freeze a good memory of a floral gift to your wall, then consider keeping them in a picture frame.
All you have to do is:
- Press flowers between the book pages.
- Then place heavier books on top of that one for at least a week or two. Or you can keep them as they are and let them dry out.
- And before you frame it, know that you can also place other keepsakes from your special events, like small photos or ticket stubs.
- Apart from a photo frame, you can also use a shadowbox to display your memorable bouquet.
11. Turn them into a wreath
Another home decor idea to reuse flowers is to make a wreath.
Things you’ll need here are:
- A grapevine wreath or a wire hoop
- Floral wire
- Dried flowers
Steps:
- Make small bundles of flowers in a pattern.
- Attach them to the grapevine wreath or wire hoop with the floral wire.
- Feel free to add more decorative pieces to it and then hang it on your door or wall.
12. Decorate your phone case
You can spice up your phone case using dried flowers.
To do this:
- Dry the flowers as we stated above.
- Glue them on the backside of a transparent or white iPhone case.
- Put a clear resin on top to protect them from damage.
- Once the resin dries, check if the flowers are evenly coated and add more if needed.
You can also take your wedding flowers and make resin art to make coasters, pendants, candle holders, ring holders, guitar picks, paperweights, block letters, cake trays, and a lot more.