How to Best Use Dried Flowers in Bulk in DIY Crafts

Calling all DIY crafters! Are you ready to hop on this summer’s biggest home decor trend? Beautiful flowers have always been a popular choice for sprucing up your home decor in the warmer months of the year. However, fresh flowers are increasingly expensive, especially with supply shortage issues, and they don’t usually end up lasting very long. If you want an affordable and stunning piece of floral home decor that will last much longer, you should try using dried flowers instead. You can use dried flowers in bulk to create many different kinds of DIY crafts and home decor pieces. Here are some of our best tips and tricks for working with dried flowers in crafts, home decor, and arrangements.

Why Use Dried Flowers?

If you’ve always loved arranging fresh flowers, you might wonder why you should use dried flowers instead. True, dried flowers might not have the same softness and fragrance as fresh flowers. However, they’re much more affordable, especially since you don’t have to constantly replace them, as you do with wilted fresh flowers. You can often order large amounts of dried flowers for only a small portion of the price of fresh flowers. The intricate textures and muted color tones of dried flowers have become especially trendy among brides and event decorators as of late. When fresh flowers are dried, their colors become a little bit more faded and their details become less soft and more detailed. These details lend themselves very well to trendy, modern floral art. Plus, if you want a pop of color added to your dried flowers, you can always spray them with a little bit of paint. There are many different styles of dried flowers for you to choose from. It is fairly easy and affordable to find and order artificial flowers in bulk, including trendy types of dried flowers such as pampas grass and sun palm leaves.

How to Dry Flowers

Did you know that you can dry your own flowers? If you have a bunch of fresh flowers on hand and want to try drying them, you can use a flower press. If you don’t have a flower press, you can also press them in a heavy book between pieces of wax paper for a flat result. For a 3-D dried result, try hanging your flowers upside down for a few weeks until they’re completely dried. If this is your first time working with dried flowers, don’t worry. Part of the charm of dried flowers is their imperfection, so if you have some extra wrinkles in the leaves or petals, it won’t be a problem at all. Here are a few additional tips on how to dry fresh flowers. Just be aware that it might be a little difficult to dry and produce your own dried flowers in bulk amounts, especially if you’re working on a large craft. You can also obtain bulk dried flowers from online vendors that will dry and process the flowers for you.

Try Adding Wood Flowers

If you don’t want to worry about all the effort of drying flowers but want a similar result, you should try using wood flowers for your crafts instead. You can buy these bulk fake flowers for an extremely affordable price. Wood flowers are made from natural, dried tapioca roots and are carefully handcrafted to resemble fresh flowers, such as peonies or daisies. There are also many different dye color options for you to choose from to personalize your wood flowers. You’ll be able to achieve your ideal color shade no matter what you’re creating your craft or decor piece for.

DIY Flower Craft Ideas

Now it is time to get started crafting! Here are a few of our favorite DIY flower craft ideas that you can easily tackle with a good supply of dried flowers. Remember, you can always add wood flowers for some extra volume, flair, and color!

Resin Art

Resin is a clear, crystal-like plastic that you can use to immortalize dried flowers and other decorative tidbits. If you haven’t yet ventured into the resin art world, the possibilities are essentially endless. You can use resin to create all sorts of decorative pieces including paperweights, keychains, delicate pendants and other jewelry, coasters, bookends, trays, place settings, ring holders, monogram letters, statuettes, and more. Just make sure you follow instructions and safety procedures (such as wearing safety equipment) so you avoid any possible accidents!

Laminated Bookmarks

You can also make stunning, laminated bookmarks out of your dried flowers. You can include a printout of a photo or quote to make a personalized bookmark for someone special in your life. Just make sure that your flowers are completely dried and pressed to avoid the growth of mold or any other difficulties when sending them through a lamination machine.

Wax Seals

If you’re writing some extra-fancy letters and want to add some wax seals to them, try including tiny, delicate dried flowers as part of your seals. For example, you could include a tiny baby’s breath or wax flower sprig for an elegant and beautiful result. Just make sure you place the dried flowers on the wax when it is freshly melted before you apply the wax seal. This will help it to properly adhere to the wax as it dries.

Wreaths

Dried flowers are perfect for making timeless and trendy DIY wreaths. Simply start with a wreath base, such as one made out of grape vines, and attach your dried flowers using floral wire, floral tape, or hot glue. You can also add a nice bow for embellishment. Wreaths are most popularly used on front doors, as they add a big boost to your home’s attractiveness. However, you can also place wreaths on your kitchen cabinet doors, on interior or exterior windows, and more. You can even use a wreath as a table centerpiece.

Wall Hangings

Dried flowers and wood flowers can be used to create gorgeous wall hangings. You can make a bouquet that you can hang in a pretty wall-hanging container. You could also use some floral foam and a floating shelf to create a 3-D, high-impact creation that will bring a dramatic effect to your home. You could even make a pretty monogram by using a cardboard or paper mache letter as a base and filling in the hollow inside with floral foam and dried flowers.

Maximalist Floral Chandelier

For an even more dramatic look, try creating this DIY maximalist floral chandelier. Basically, you’ll be making a hanging wreath that has voluminous, upside-down flowers. This look has become especially trendy with dried flowers such as pampas grass. You can hang your chandelier for a fun party or event, or find a creative spot in your home to display it.

Centerpieces 

When you’re crafting with dried flowers, don’t forget about the great potential that a dried flower centerpiece has. A gorgeous centerpiece can elevate any tablescape. You can customize your dried flower centerpiece for different seasons by adding different colors of wood flowers, preserved filler, or other pieces that will make your centerpieces extra festive.

For more ideas on how to use dried flowers bulk in your crafts and home decor pieces, check out our Sola School!