Give a girl a bouquet, and you will melt her heart. Offer her a resin bangle, necklace, or ring filled with flowers, and you will fully steal her forever.
Suppose you are passionate about DIY projects, or you simply want to give a one-of-a-kind special gift or maybe commemorate a bouquet someone gave to you. Here’s an idea, and a genius solution: preserving your favorite flowers.
Well, it turns out that making a keepsake with has special memories added to the mix, is a lot easier than you think.
Whether you want to keep some priceless petals from the bridal bouquet and put them into a ring or simply want to save a vase of flowers from a loved one, there are several options for drying and preserving flowers that you care about. You have plenty of ways to admire these flowers and keep their sentimental value for a long time.
If you haven’t thought about the methods of drying flowers yet, this is a good place to start. We have selected the easiest yet, most efficient, best ways to dry flowers quickly for resin.
Check out the step-by-step instructions for 4 super easy ways to dry flowers for resin below, along with our best flower drying tips.
Is it necessary to dry flowers before adding them into resin?
Flowers are the symbol of beauty. Whether people are using them to landscape their gardens, to show their affection, or just put some joy on someone’s face. Furthermore, their fragrance can undoubtedly add a touch of romantic charm.
There are many ways to save delicate flowers; however, if you want to make an impressive DIY project, to have a unique keepsake, an excellent idea is to place the plants in resin and transform them into fantastic jewelry.
You can keep your favorite flowers in resin or make other crafts, as a creative and long-lasting way of remembering a special occasion or remembering the person who gave them to you.
An unfortunate warning, but your DIY projects might not turn out as planned if you place fresh flowers immediately into your resin. These plants will become sludgy, brown, and moldy, the moisture of the flowers will damage the resin.
Flowers, like many other organic materials, need to be perfectly dried right before they are inserted into any mold or resin. Don’t worry I’ve shared the best ways to dry flowers quickly for resin, just down below.
Leading Tips to Dry Fresh Flowers
We have tried multiple different methods, each of them having pros and cons. Some were efficient, while others didn’t seem quite as good as we expected. This is why I want to share both the ideal solutions and the less successful ones.
TIP: Check all the methods and find your favorite one.
How to Dry Flowers Evenly
As previously mentioned, drying flowers is a popular method for saving plants. Dried flowers are used as decor, as well as for adding character to rare or exceptional jewelry.
Before you start creating your DIY tangible memento or beautiful resin jewelry, here are important and even crucial tips to keep in mind for a seamless drying process.
Crucial tips to ensure that the flowers are flawlessly dried:
- Air drying is ideal for bouquets, or robust plants, such as roses, long-lasting species of lavender, or other small, sturdy flowers.
- The microwave drying method is ideal for preserving the structure and color of flowers. Plants like roses, tulips, daisies, or chrysanthemums are perfect for drying in the microwave.
- Use the only alternative preservation techniques when it comes to delicate plants and flowers, such as lilies. Pressing or framing is always the best method.
- Don’t leave the flowers drying for too long. Otherwise, you will lose those mature blooms and petals, as they tend to decline right away.
Now that you are aware of our most valuable tips in drying flowers, it’s time to move on to the various options you have:
Firstly comes a natural method, air-drying flowers. Then we will approach the other two alternatives we previously mentioned.
1st way: Air Drying Flowers
Let’s start with the most traditional way to dry flowers and also the natural method: air-drying. Although it might be a bit more time-consuming, this method of drying your blooms involves the help of nature.
Air drying out flowers over time is less energy-consuming. You will make little effort, then, in the end, be able to enjoy the end goal that you set out to accomplish. We recommend using this air-drying flowers method, especially for large floral arrangements, bouquets, or wider blooms.
Here are the main steps for air-drying the flowers:
- Firstly, make sure you strip the excess foliage from all flowers and cut stems until you get the desired length. However, the final size should not be shorter than six inches. To help the flowers keep their original color even during the drying process, it is essential to remove them from sunlight when you cut the plants.
- Start hanging the flowers individually or grab the stems together to hand them as a bouquet.
- Now allow the plants to dry into a dark, good air-circulation area, such as an unused closet or an attic one. You can use some dental floss that does not contain any flavor or alcohol and secure the bottom of the plants.
Catch the flowers to a hanger so they can hang upside down. This way, you will allow them to dry evenly.
- Leave the flowers just like that for a couple of weeks or more until you feel them evenly dried.
- Remove the flowers from the hangers, then use an unscented hairspray to cover them with a protective layer.
If you need to prep your flowers at a more rapid rate than air dry, up next, our 2nd method for drying flowers is microwave dehydration.
2nd way: Drying Flowers with a Microwave
If you wish to go for a faster alternative to air-drying and not wait for weeks after your favorite plants, we have good news: you can beautifully dry flowers using the microwave technique.
However, this drying flowers with a microwave method requires some silica gel, an ingredient you can find in any craft store. The gel will beautifully mold into the shape of the flowers; plus, you can reuse silica gel when need.
Here is what you need to dry flowers in a microwave:
- The first thing you need to do is find a microwave-safe container that is not metal or aluminum. Try to avoid using a dish you would usually keep for your food.
- Now you just need to add a layer of silica gel (maximum two inches) at the bottom of the holder; make sure you add more gel on the larger plants.
Then place all the favorite plants in the gel and pour an additional amount right over the petals. Make sure you are pouring the gel gently so that the petals will stay intact. Use your hands in this process.
- Put this container in the microwave, but do not cover it. The temperature in the microwave will vary depending on the type of flower you want to dry. However, this type of process might require some trial and error. Start the microwave without overcoming the two heat levels. Leave the flowers in the microwave for 2 to 5 minutes.
Every plant will react differently. Roses can withstand the heat better, while daisies are more sensitive and can handle low temperatures only.
- Make sure you permanently check the flowers’ progress. If the process is slow, you can increase time and heat when needed.
- Once the plants and their blooms are completely dried, then it is safe to open the microwave and immediately cover the container.
- Now that you took out the covered container, it’s time to open only a quarter of it, then let the flowers sit for a day.
- Time to remove the gel off from the petals; Use a smooth brush, then apply in fine layers some acrylic spray.
- As a final step, display the dried flowers or put them in your craft projects.
3rd way: Drying Flowers Using Silica Sand
If you don’t lack the time and want to make sure that the flowers are well-preserved to look fabulous in resin, you have other options to dry their petals.
You can take on drying flowers by using silica sand: no more microwave, just natural elements. The use of silica sand will allow you to use wider containers and keep the shape of plants much longer.
Here’s what you’ll need for drying flowers using silica sand: Silica sand, a container with lid, flowers, that’s it!
How to do all this process? Well, you simply need to place the flowers in the container, then, cover them in silica sand. Depending on the plant this process can take between 2-6 days.
The 4th and final recommendation to try, I’m sure you’ve probably seen others use before. It’s easy to do with the help of items you can probably find located around your house.
4th way: Flower Press for Drying Plants
Another standard yet simple and non-time-consuming method for drying flowers is pressing them. You can preserve the blossoms in different ways, depending on the tools you have available and how much time you have.
As such, you can use these items for drying/pressing flowers and plants:
- Flower press
- A book
- An iron
- The microwave
When using the flower pressing method, you should not forget to use:
- Favorite plants (of course)
- Heavy books
- Irons or flower presses
- Absorbent paper (whether it is parchment paper, coffee filters, or thin cardboard)
- Last but not least, a weight, but only in the book’s case.
Last Thoughts
Pressed flowers can look amazing and add a romantic touch to lots of crafts. From botanical prints to crafting resin jewelry or cards, dried flowers will enhance the final look of your DIYs.
You can also add some pressed flowers from special moments and as thank you gifts, so you can show the loved ones how special they are.
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