The Art of Scrapbooking with Dried Flowers

Almost everyone enjoys occasionally reminiscing on the past. It's human instinct to save mementos from loved ones and from importation occasions. People often save flowers from wedding bouquets or prom corsages. Today, it's not uncommon to just snap a picture with a phone and discard the memento. Many families upload these and other photos to a company that then produces and mails them a bound photo album. In a world full of digital products, though, there's something even more special about a scrapbook filled with tactile mementos. Scrapbooking blends crafting with archival work. People take books filled with blank pages and add in photos, ticket stubs, journal entries, and other memorabilia from their life. It's a way of preserving the past for future generations, while also letting the scrapbooker express their creative vision.

Choosing the Right Flowers

Dried flowers make for beautiful, tactile scrapbook pages. However, not all flowers dry well. Sturdy flowers, like strawflowers and hydrangeas, dry better than more fragile blooms. Flowers with very high water content typically aren't good candidates for drying. Flowers with multiple layers and open petals, such as tulips and roses, also dry really well. There are many different methods for drying flowers, and sometimes it will be necessary to take apart a bouquet that will be used in a scrapbook because different blooms do better with different methods of drying.

Materials and Tools

All crafts have their own supply lists. For drying flowers, some of the supplies you'll need on hand include string, good scissors, plastic bowls, and a drying agent like cat litter or silica gel. Scrapbooking also requires some supplies. The most important item is the scrapbook itself. Some people prefer loose-leaf scrapbooks because that style allows the scrapbooker to choose different acid-free papers for various layouts. Other crafters love the look of a bound book of blank pages. Again, make sure the paper used is acid-free. Archival-quality pens, markers, glues, tape, and photo corners are all basic supplies. Scrapbooking is a very individualized craft, so crafters should also examine the world of letters, stickers, and other premade decorations that can be used to assemble their family histories.

Drying the Flowers

There are five basic methods for drying a flower. Different blooms do better with different methods. Air drying is very simple. Just tie the flowers together and hang them upside down in a dark room for several weeks. Another slower method is to put the flowers in a plastic container and cover them with silica gel before letting them sit for a few weeks. One reason people love this method is it maintains the flower's color. A faster method is to place the flower in a plastic bowl with a little cat litter and then put it in the microwave for a few minutes. Baking flowers is very similar and is even easier. Place the blooms on a baking sheet and put them in the warm oven for about three hours. Although this method is easy, it often discolors the flowers and causes petals to fall off. Pressing flowers is a popular choice for scrapbookers. Simply place a single flower between the pages of a book and let it sit for a week or so.

Flower Adhesives

When choosing a glue for placing dried blooms into a scrapbook crafters have two consider two things. First, remember that it's always best to use archival-quality crafting products when working on a scrapbook. Doing so will help the scrapbook survive to be enjoyed by future generations. Dried flowers also need special glue to bind them securely to their page in the book. Mod Podge is a great adhesive that will help preserve the flower.

Creative Ideas for Your Dried Flower Pages

Scrapbook layouts are a chance to really let creativity shine. When using dried flowers there are really no rules or limits, other than making sure the flowers are fully dry and safely glued in place. One pretty idea is to use the dried blooms of a corsage to make a frame that can surround the photo of the dance where the corsage was worn. A flower picked on a vacation can be glued over a full-page black-and-white photograph of the holiday spot. Someone who grew the bloom being used could glue it in whole and write the story of the garden. It's up to the goals and vision of the crafter how the flowers are used to make layouts!