3 Ways to Dry Flowers for Budget-Friendly Decor That Lasts, According to Florists

There are so many beautiful ways to use flowers around your home. For my family, an affinity for flowers is practically genetic; my maternal grandmother and mom both taught my sister and I different plant and flower species and how to use them around the home—dried or fresh.

“Dried flowers have a way of connecting us to the past through sights and smells that remind us of the special moments of our lives while simultaneously allowing us to create something that will last far into the future,” says stylist Lisa Fontanarosa. “I dry flowers so I can have beautiful blooms that last longer than a season and will be a beautiful forever reminder of my year-round garden.”

Here are three ways of drying your own flowers, plus a handful of gorgeous ways to let them shine all around your home once they’re dry.

How to Dry Flowers Using the Upside-Down Method

• First, collect your cuttings. Fontanarosa says to harvest flowers from your own garden. Floral stylist Lindsey Epifano also suggests supporting local flower farms or ethically foraging them yourself if you don’t have your own.
• Once they’re cut, remove the leaves and wrap the stems of several flowers with rubber bands.
• Hang these bouquets with the blooms facing down. Any area that’s out of direct light and well-ventilated is good, like a closet.
• Allow them to dry for at least two weeks to a month.

Fontanarosa recommends harder varieties for this method, such as straw flowers, grasses, hydrangeas, roses, lavender, yarrow, amaranth, and eucalyptus.

How to Dry Flowers Using Floral Preservation Sand

• Find a container that’s deep and wide enough for your flowers without crushing them.
• Fill it with one or two inches of silica or another floral preservation sand.
• Arrange your flowers face up on top of the silica.
• Then fill the container, ensuring the silica covers your blooms entirely.
• Flowers will all vary in how long they take to dry out, but leave them for at least four days and up to two weeks.
• After this time, you can carefully remove them from the sand and brush off any remaining silica.

According to Fontarosa, the best kinds of flowers for this method are more fragile varieties like peonies.

How to Dry Flowers Using a Press

• First, cut off the stems from the buds, then arrange them in your press. If you don’t have a professional or hobby flower press, that’s okay; floral expert and artist Amelia Bursi says you can use a large book (one without shiny pages) and coffee filters to press your petals.
• If you just want to use the petals for your DIYs or decor, Epifano says to pluck them now while they’re fresh before pressing.
• Leave them for a few weeks so they’re fully dried out.

Epifano suggests flowers like chamomile, daisies, rose petals, statice, baby’s breath, delphinium, and similar for this method.

Want more gardening tips? Sign up for our free gardening newsletter for our best growing tips, troubleshooting hacks, and more!

When to Pick Flowers for Drying

To get the best color and fragrance out of your dried flowers, there is a sweet spot during which to pick them.

“You’ll have the most success drying flowers that are in bloom and picked at their peak,” says Fontanarosa. “Harvest them when they are fully open but not to the point when they become soft and begin to fall off easily.”

You’ll also want to be selective with the flowers you choose in regards to the drying method you’re after.

“Choose drier florals with a heartier consistency to guarantee minimal shedding or crumbling,” says Epifano. “For example, strawflowers will likely stay fully intact unless they’re nudged, as they already have dry, strong buds.”

Softer flowers, on the other hand, are great for pressing. They’re also great candidates for preserving in silica.

How to Know When Dried Flowers Are Done

Depending on the type of flowers you dry and how well you maintain them, you can have these beautiful preserved blooms around your home for months and for years, especially if they’re framed or held in resin.

However, there may come a time where they aren’t looking their best anymore. If the petals are constantly shedding and leaving bare stems, or they’re collecting mold and completely drained of color, it’s probably time to let them go.

How to Style Dried Flowers Around the House

Dried flowers are a beautiful way of adding nature to your regular decor, and they don’t require any upkeep like their fresh counterparts.

“They can have a special place in living, dining, and bedrooms to bring nature indoors,” Bursi says. “Bonus points if they are a favorite plant or herb, or if there is a special meaning with the flowers like a wedding, funeral, or baby shower.”

Press and Frame Them

Another way of displaying dried flowers around your home is to press and frame them in glass. This elegant option gives the petals a chance to shine and holds onto their vibrant colors for quite a while. You can place them between two glass panes or glue them to paper.

“If your handwriting is pretty, you can identify the flowers for a scientific look,” says Bursi.

You could also add a quote of your choosing or leave the flowers as is. Left to your own artistic devices, you’ll find there’s a theme and look for every type of design preference.

Turn Them Into a Wreath

If you have a slew of flowers to work with, consider turning them into a one-of-a-kind wreath.

“Wreaths are a relatively simple and low cost craft that looks stunning in your home,” says Epifano.

She recommends using heartier flowers and grasses like knapweed, strawflowers, lavender, wheat, statice, and barley.

Put Them in Resin

Resin is a great way to preserve dried flowers for a long time. Bursi says it can be a large piece of resin, which you can place on your mantel or bookshelf, or it can be something more delicate like earrings or necklaces.

Craft a Sculptural Piece

Get creative and think outside of the box when it comes to decorating with flowers. There are so many options for adding a burst of dried blooms here and a garland of petals there, even in areas you might not have initially considered.

“Once the floral are dried, I arrange them in vases, on my wire hanging orbs, and on my mannequins to create everlasting arrangements,” says Fontanarosa.

Press and Save for Later

Epifano says the flowers can also be incorporated into existing decorative objects or new DIY projects once they have dried. She suggests adding them to things like candles, candle holders, and bath bombs for a few other unique options.

Reconstruct the Petals

You can also create beautiful artwork by taking apart the petals of the dried flowers and reconstructing them into other shapes and vignettes.

“Reconstruct the deconstructed petals with an archival glue and adhere to paper or glass for a flat lay or academic look,” Bursi suggests.

Want more design inspiration? Sign up for our free daily newsletter for the latest decor ideas, designer tips, and more!

Tips for Keeping Dried Flowers Looking Fresh

• Keep your flowers away from water. “Moisture is the enemy,” Bursi says. Don’t put them in a vase with water or in areas with excessive moisture like the bathroom.
• Avoid placing them near vents. Epifano says to keep flowers away from hot, direct sunlight and breezes from vents, fans, and windows as this will dilute their color and cause them to shed.
• Opt for the freshest flowers. Although you can’t completely prevent your flowers from losing color, you can keep them looking their best from the beginning by selecting the freshest buds.
• Select less messy methods. Bouquets can gather more dust and grime and dried flowers will eventually start to shed and come apart. Epifano says framed pressed flowers and wreaths will offer the least amount of mess.