How do you dry flowers?

Question

Like when you sort of dry the flowers to use them as book marks or something. I have carnations.

Answer 1

I agree that carnations are too thick to press for drying ... but, you could remove most of the fleshy and hard parts in the center of the flower, then press only the petals with a bit of the center, I guess. It will take longer than a day or so if you just press them in a book or even in a press, but there are ways to do it in a microwave that are pretty quick. Here's some info:

all kinds of power levels & times for the microwave are suggested in various places online (from med. low to high... and from 10 seconds to 4 minutes) so you'll just have to experiment, on less important specimens though)

lesson:

.....place a paper towel (or two) on top of a flat bottomed ceramic or glass plate, then place flower on toweling... add another paper towel (or 2) on top of that
.....place a second plate on top of your last paper towel
.... microwave for 15-30 seconds (high?)... check to see if they are dry.
........if not, re-microwave them at 15-30 second increments until they are dry (if paper towels become too damp, replace with dry ones)
(.....can also use blotter paper, but still use paper towel right next to flower)

...can microwave multiple flowers at one time if they aren't overlapped (but takes a bit longer, and some color may be lost)

...may be best to let flowers continue drying after microwaving for awhile (even overnight) to get rid of all moisture in thicker areas

Or flowers can be dried so they stay dimensional by using a drying agent around them with the microwave... .for a bit more info on doing that, check out this page:
http://glassattic.com/polymer/mixing_media.htm
(click on *Dried Nature*, then scroll down to the subcategory "Quick Drying Flowers"...)

Diane B.

Answer 2

You won't be able to dry a carnation to make a bookmark. The base of the flower is too thick. The best thing for you to do is to press the individual petals. Here is a web site to tell you how to do it.
http://www.infowest.com/life/pressflowers.htm

Answer 3

Just place the flower inside a book prefeably in the middle and leave it there for a couple of days. It will be dry and flat.

Answer 4

Hang them upside down till the dry.

Answer 5

hang them upside down and spray them with hair spray