What can you do with flowers besides arranging them in a vase? Flowers offer countless creative possibilities: preserve them in frames, weave them into wreaths, place them in bowls, or include them in handmade presents. They also add charm to seasonal decorations, bookmarks, sachets, and plenty more.
Each summer, I somehow end up with far more flowers than I can use. Strawflowers, statice, & nigella pods hang from my drying rack, fill baskets, and cover nearly every available surface in my home. Although I enjoy a beautiful vase arrangement as much as anyone, a house can only accommodate so many vases.
If you’ve ever found yourself holding a bundle of flowers and wondering what in the world to do with them besides place them in a jar, you’ve come to the right place. I’ve worked with both dried and pressed flowers for years, so I’ve gathered 15 of my favorite ways to use them throughout the house. A few are fast and easy, while others are hands-on projects with linked tutorials, but they’re all ideas I’ve personally tried and truly enjoy.
And what if you don’t have a garden? That shouldn’t hold you back. Dried lavender buds, rose petals, and many other botanicals are readily available online or in craft shops. I’ve even noticed an increasing selection of dried flower bouquets at nearby grocery stores and, naturally, Trader Joe’s. Flowers from a supermarket bouquet can be dried or pressed at home with almost no work. A garden is helpful, but it isn’t necessary.
Let’s discover a lovely way to use those blossoms.
Welcome! I’m Jennifer, and I’ve always felt that nature provides the most gorgeous art materials. For many years, I’ve preserved New England’s flowers and foliage by pressing, drying, and crafting with them. Let me show you how to preserve a small piece of the season and bring it inside-simply and beautifully.
15 Ways To Use Flowers
Below are 15 enjoyable and imaginative ways I incorporate dried and pressed flowers throughout my home.
1. Create Pressed Flower Art
Pressed flowers can become some of the loveliest artwork, and the process is easier than it may appear. Pair a basic frame with watercolor paper or a page from an old book, add a few pressed blossoms, and you’ll have a piece that looks right at home in a boutique. I’ve created everything from tiny frames to spacious floating designs featuring fern leaves, and each one has discovered a special spot somewhere in my home.
2. Design A Wreath
You certainly don’t need to ask me twice!! Creating wreaths from fresh or dried flowers is one of my favorite talents.
Using dried flowers on a grapevine wreath form is among the easiest projects to try, and the finished pieces are gorgeous. Strawflowers, statice, and globe amaranth dry wonderfully and retain their color for a long time. Make yours abundant and full, or choose a relaxed, natural wildflower style. Either way, they look beautiful hanging on a door or displayed above a mantel.
If you’re new to crafting, a wreath makes an excellent first project! They’re simple to create and very forgiving.
3. Create A Bookmark
This project goes beyond simply placing a flower between two pieces of contact paper, and the completed bookmark looks like something from a stylish boutique. I start with plain paper bookmarks, add a strip of rice paper for dimension, arrange pressed flowers and ferns with Mod Podge, sealthe entire piece with peel-and-stick laminate, then complete it with a tassel made from leather cord. They make lovely handmade presents for book enthusiasts, and after creating your first batch, you’ll be eager to craft some for everyone you know!
4. Create A Sachet
One of those crafts that appears far more time-consuming than it really is involves filling a small muslin pouch with dried lavender, rose petals, or herbs.
Place one inside a dresser drawer, suspend one in the closet, or slip one into a smelly pair of shoes. I recently prepared four unique combinations, including a mint and activated charcoal sachet for shoes that I keep in my garden clogs.
5. Arrange Them In A Bowl
This is probably the simplest project here. Take a wooden bowl or an attractive dish you already have, then load it with dried flowers. There’s no need for arranging.
Strawflowers, rosebuds, and globe amaranth are particularly suitable since they retain their form and hue. Change them with the seasons for easy, ever-changing decoration.
Mixing a few drops of rose essential oil (or your preferred scent) into the flowers creates a soft, delicate aroma, making it ideal for a coffee table or reading corner where you’d like a touch of fragrance without anything too strong.
6. Display Them In A Shadow Box
Compared with a flat frame, a shadow box provides extra depth, allowing you to layer stems, include a meaningful item or two, and design something deeply personal. I created this one for a friend using some of her wedding flowers.
Pair a pressed flower with a handwritten message, an antique key, or a seed packet from your garden. It turns into a small memory keepsake rather than simply a decoration.
7. Impress Them Into Clay Magnets
Air-dry clay andjust a handful of pressed flowers is enough for this project. Set your blossoms into the clay while it’s still soft, and you’ll have a lovely botanical impression once it dries. I created a collection of these, and they’re still displayed on my refrigerator. They make charming little presents too…the sort of gifts people genuinely hold on to
8. Include Them In Gift Wrapping
This is my go-to trick for making a present feel extra special without paying anything additional. Slide a dried stem or petite bunch beneath the ribbon of a wrapped gift, or arrange a few pressed flowers on a gift bag tied with twine. It instantly improves even the simplest wrapping and gives the recipient the impression that you put real thought into it. Which, to be fair, required only about thirty seconds.
9. Create A Pressed Flower Card
Grab a plain notecard, several pressed blossoms, a little adhesive, and let your imagination take over!
Place the flowers across the card’s front, secure them gently with glue, and leave everything to dry. You’ll have a deeply personal thank-you or birthday card to mail, and it will resemble an elegant boutique design.
10. Decorate A Mantel
A mantel offers an ideal spot for dried flowers to stand out, thanks to its height, dimension, and room for layering. Tuck the stems into a garland, or intertwine them with other organic details such as grapevine or moss.
Last Fall I created a whole whimsical cottage-style mantel with dried hydrangeas, amaranth, nigella pods, and celosia gathered from my own garden.
It appeared straight out of a magazine and cost next to nothing. Dried flowers are lovely in every season, not only Fall, and they remain beautiful for as long as your mantel arrangement stays on display
11. Group Them Together
Collect a small bunch of dried stems—lavender, eucalyptus, statice, or anything else on hand—and fasten them with twine or ribbon. I hung several bundles from the rung of a decorative ladder. You could also place them on a cabinet knob, wall hook, or door handle. It takes just a couple of minutes and looks wonderfully charming. No special talent needed, I promise.
12. Decorate a Vase with Decoupage
Find a basic glass vase from a thrift store, use a leftover one, or choose whatever you have on hand, then apply découpage glaze to attach pressed flowers directly to its surface. After it has dried, cover the entire piece with sealant, creating a unique decoration that looks as though it came from an upscale home shop.
I’ve created quite a few of these, and they never feel dated. However, they can begin to lose their color over time based on how much sunlight they receive.
13. Create a Hanging Frame with Dried Flowers
This ranks among my favorite projects on the entire blog. Start by constructing a basic frame with bamboo stakes and chicken wire, then thread dried flower stems through the openings so the blossoms rest directly against the frame.
The completed decoration resembles a three-dimensional bouquet floating in the air. I made a pair for less than $25 altogether; a high-end shop’s equivalent costs $80+
14. Adorn a Cinnamon Broom
Have you seen those cinnamon brooms that appear at Trader Joe’s and supermarkets each Fall? Their scent is wonderful, though they may seem somewhat bare right out of the package.
A small bunch of garden-grown dried flowers—amaranth, strawflowers, lavender, and celosia—secured around the broom’s neck with wire and finished with a raffia bow transforms it from ordinary to wonderfully charming in about 20 minutes. If you don’t grow flowers, you can easily use a bunch from a nearby flower farm stand or farmer’s market!
The blooms keep drying on the broom while maintaining their form throughout the season. It’s the kind of project that appears far more elaborate than the work it actually requires.
15. Make a Bottle Herbarium (Japanese Style)
Place flowers in clear oil inside an attractive glass bottle. It may sound complex, but the process is truly easy, and the finished result is breathtaking. Mineral oil helps preserve the flowers’ colors while giving them the appearance of floating. They look lovely on a windowsill where sunlight can shine through, and they’re among the most distinctive handmade presents I’ve ever gifted.