Dried Flower Art Projects for Springtime
Think spring, and flowers immediately come to mind. From crocuses and pansies to tulips and lilacs, spring brings a bounty of color to our winter-weary lives.
Flowers are the inspiration, as well as the raw material, for some fun art projects. For example, you can use pressed flowers to personalize items such as cards, soaps and candles. You don’t even need a green thumb. A little patience and imagination will spring your creation to life.
These dried flower art projects will ensure your family has a “scentsational” spring:
Press some posies. First, decide on a flower (or flowers) you’d like to use for your craft. Pansies are a great spring flower to press, since their colorful blooms are already somewhat flat, and they’re also readily available in many home and garden stores. Cut your flowers for pressing at the height of bloom. Lay the blossoms between two sheets of white paper (coffee filters also work) and then place them in the middle of a thick telephone book. Next, place a brick or something heavy on the book, to help press moisture from the flowers. Check the paper every few days, changing it if it gets too moist. Be patient. Flowers can take a week or so to become completely dry and flat. For quicker results, you can buy a plastic device online that enables drying and pressing flowers in a microwave.
Brighten a candle. For a springtime craft that invites the smell of spring indoors, start with a scented pillar candle and some of the flowers you pressed earlier. Gently apply a small amount of rubber cement or other adhesive to the flowers and then affix them to the candle. Be sure to press the edges of the flowers around the curve of the candle. Next, light a tea-light candle. After it melts, dip a small paintbrush into the melted wax and paint the wax over the pressed flowers.
Decorate your soap. Select a large, thick and sturdy bar of dry soap. Lightly apply rubber cement to the flowers and then press them onto the surface of the soap. Take care not to break the blooms as you apply pressure. It’s also a good idea to paint over the blooms with melted wax to secure them. Display your decorated soap in a pretty dish. If you’re a bit more adventurous and want to embed dried flowers in the soap, follow these simple instructions.
Personalize greeting cards. Start with a good-quality paper stock in a size and color you prefer. Select the dried flowers you want to use and then arrange them artfully on the card. It’s helpful to use small tweezers to do this. Glue the flowers directly on the card, either with white glue or a specialty paper adhesive from a crafts store. For a touch of flair, glue a small square of fabric onto the card stock and then affix the dried flowers to it. Place your finished card under a heavy book for a few minutes to ensure that your glued flowers dry flat. You can also apply a thin coat of paper adhesive on top of the flower as a protective sealant, using a small, damp paintbrush. Once your pressed flower card is dry, it will be ready for you to add a personalized greeting.
Create other works of dried flower art. You can use your dried flowers to enhance jewelry boxes, scrapbooks, garden journals, lampshades and other objects – even Easter eggs! Experiment a little, using different kinds of dried flowers and even pressed ferns. You’ll be delighted with your floral preservation artistry!
