Have you ever received a beautiful bouquet of flowers from a loved one and couldn’t bare to see them die, or found a fallen rose on the ground and didn’t want to leave it? Flower pressing and drying is your answer!

Words & Photos by Mia Kinglsley

The flowers in the old milk bottle I have had since the summer of 2009, my mum gave them to me as welcome back present from a trip to Greece. I put them in a glass with some water and over time they slowly died but instead of throwing them away, I just left them to dry out. When I realised they would stay this way for a long time I thought I would just keep on drying out the bouquets I was given. Now I have a small collection of dried flowers dotted around my bedroom from roses to lavender. Flower drying is a really cheap and easy way to add a little something to your bedside table or book shelf, so next time dont throw them away!

Not only do dried flowers look great in vases or bowls, I also made this head piece for last Halloween using flexible wire, which you can buy from arts and craft shops and an alice band. I attached dried roses, feathers and black net to create the perfect vampire’s accessory.

Drying isn’t the only thing you can do to recycle your flowers, this christmas just gone I received a super cute flower presser. Which is really easy to use and when your flowers have dried, you can do loads of great things with them. But if you don’t have a press you can just use some heavy books. Tthat method works just as well, here some things I’ve done with my results…

This is a holiday snap of me and my girl, I put the photo into a frame and thought it would be really cute to add some of my pressed flowers to the scene. I love the result and will definitely do it again. You could even try to collect flowers from the same location to put alongside your photo memories if you’re not too caught up in the moment!

Today I picked some daisies and put them into a frame with one of my favourite Man Ray photos, you really can add your own little touches to anything. You can use pressed flowers in nearly any arts and crafts activity… I made my mum a card with some flowers stuck on the front and you could even make jewellery by laminating the flowers and using a puncher you can make a hole to attach ribbon or chains.

My favourite is when you have forgotten you have left something in a book or in your press and a month or two down the line you come across a perfectly dried hibiscus or lily. Try it yourself and I promise you will become just as flower crazy as me!