Beauty
How To Dry Flowers + Make Naturally Scented Potpourri
Mar
You may keep in mind the traditional potpourri from once you have been a baby. They have been fairly, with shells and seed pods and different oddities combined in, however they smelled like—to 8-year-old me, at the least—outdated woman. With the overwhelming pretend scents of sea breeze and spiced chestnut, I couldn’t get away from them quick sufficient. However let’s simply say this DIY potpourri isn’t the potpourri of yesteryear.
You begin by drying recent flowers from the backyard, then customise the scent with important oil (or perfume oils, in the event you like) to fit your temper, the season, or what have you ever. It’s attractive, refined, and fully customizable, identical to potpourri ought to be.
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Methods to Dry Flowers
Step one in making selfmade potpourri is drying the flowers. However even in the event you don’t plan on making potpourri, you may nonetheless use this technique to dry flowers for an entire host of different DIY or adorning initiatives.
Simply make sure that to decide on the precise flowers. Flowers with sturdier petals will maintain up higher to warmth than extra delicate blooms.
When you’ve got a dehydrator, then you may dry nearly any flower you want. Merely set your dehydrator to the bottom warmth setting (often reserved for herbs), and let the flowers dry slowly. However since most of us don’t personal a dehydrator, we’re going to make use of the oven, which is faster however hotter.
A few of the finest flowers for drying are:
—Roses
—Pansies
—Hydrangeas
—Lavender
—Yarrow
—Calendula
—Amaranth
—Strawflower (Helichrysum)
—Allium
—Cornflower
Admittedly, you’re not going to seek out a whole lot of these on the grocery retailer or backyard heart. So use no matter you’ll find, both in nature or on the retailer, and be prepared to experiment.
You may as well use dried herbs. Rosemary, thyme, sage, lemon balm, and mint will dry superbly.
Dried Flower Provides
—A wide range of recent flowers
—Scissors
—Baking sheet
—An oven (or dehydrator)
Step 1 | Lower flowers
I like a wide range of each complete flower heads and petals in my potpourri. However, relying in your mission, you might simply choose one or the opposite.
Begin by chopping the flower heads from the stems, and set some apart to be dried complete. Gently take away the petals from the remaining, being cautious to not tear them.
Step 2 | Dry within the oven
Preheat the oven to 170 levels F, or your oven’s lowest setting.
Unfold the flowers evenly on a parchment-lined baking sheet and place them within the oven. Bake for half-hour.
Gently toss the flowers to assist them dry evenly, then proceed baking for one more half-hour. In the event that they’re not fairly dry, proceed tossing and baking in 30-minute intervals till they’re fully dry.
Step 3 | Let cool
You could discover that the entire flowers dry extra slowly than the person petals. When you assume the petals are getting too dry, take away the entire flowers and proceed baking them individually till they’ve had an opportunity to dry.
As soon as dry, take away the flowers from the oven, and allow them to cool fully.
Use for potpourri, to embellish candles, Easter eggs, or different DIY initiatives.
Notice: warmth tends to empty the colour from flowers and have an effect on their pure scent. That is regular! If it bothers you, you might wish to spend money on a dehydrator, so you may dry them extra slowly.
Methods to Make Do-it-yourself Potpourri
That is the enjoyable half! Since flowers get their perfume from unstable oils, it’s doubtless there gained’t be a lot perfume left after the drying course of. So, you’ll want so as to add your personal perfume. I choose to make use of important oils, however you need to use perfume oils or spices to spice up the scent.
Potpourri Provides
—Dried flowers
—Important oils or perfume oils
—Non-obligatory: Spices, like cinnamon, anise, or cardamom
Potpourri Directions
Pour your flowers right into a small bowl.
Add 10-15 drops of important oil and toss to coat. You should use any oils you want, however I discover {that a} mix of two to three oils is an efficient quantity. Be happy to combine up the oils relying in your temper, the season, or no matter else is occurring in the intervening time.
Be happy so as to add some other scent boosters you want. Or toss in some shells, seed pods, crystals, or different conventional potpourri tchotchkes to make it seem like the ornamental potpourri blends of yore.
When the scent begins to fade, add extra important oils to your DIY potpourri and toss to mix.
Extra Methods to Use Dried Flowers
Dried flowers make an awesome addition to a wide range of DIY initiatives. When you plan to make use of them in selfmade tub and physique merchandise, I solely suggest utilizing natural or home-grown flowers. Retailer-bought dried flowers are often sprayed with pesticides, which you don’t need touching your garments or pores and skin.
When you’ve got leftover dried flowers, listed below are a number of enjoyable methods to make use of them:
—Wax sachets
—Natural sachets
—Tub tea
—Candle making
—Physique scrub
—Framed artwork (pressed flowers additionally work for this)
—Seasonal wreaths
—Easter eggs
—Smudge sticks
Dried Flower Potpourri FAQs
Can I dry flowers with out utilizing the oven?
Some flowers dry rather well by merely hanging them the wrong way up to air dry naturally. Roses, hydrangeas, and lavender are nice choices in the event you would favor to skip the oven.
Merely take away the leaves and foliage from the flowers, then reduce the stems, so that they’re roughly 6 inches lengthy. Tie the stems collectively utilizing twine or a rubber band, and dangle them the wrong way up in a well-ventilated space away from direct daylight. They need to dry fully in about 3 to 4 weeks, at which level you may take away the petals and use them in potpourri or different initiatives.
Will dried flowers mildew?
If they’ve dried out fully, no, they shouldn’t mildew. You could run into issues in the event you get them moist or place them in a moist surroundings, reminiscent of the lavatory.
How lengthy can you retain DIY potpourri?
Dried flowers ought to keep good for about one 12 months. Be sure that to control them and throw them away in the event you discover bugs, mildew, or they start to odor.
