How to dry flowers with silica gel. Silica beads are a fast and easy way to preserve flowers for crafts!
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As I’ve expanded my gardens and included more flowers in my garden beds, I’ve really been keen to learn how to preserve flowers. We had some STUNNING flowers this year and I really wanted to keep some to use for resin crafts. I’ve seen some very pretty resin projects using flowers, but if you use the flowers while they’re still wet, they essentially burn up in the resin (something about the moisture, I believe?).
Benefits to Silica Gel vs. Dry Pressing Flowers
Drying in silica gel is a great option if you want the flower to retain its original shape. I find it’s easier to dry larger flowers with it and it’s less hassle than trying to flatten a larger flower, such as a sunflower.
The gel beads can be a pain though. They tend to get stuck in the dry flowers and usually shake loose when I’m moving the flowers to store.
I really love the look of dry pressed flowers. They don’t take a lot of work to press, particularly if they’re smaller flowers, and they have a unique look to the finished product. But I haven’t been able to successfully dry big flowers this way.
Where to Buy Silica Gel for Drying Flowers?
You can buy silica gel on Amazon or at your local craft store (Joann’s doesn’t seem to carry it though). You can also save the silica gel packets that you get when you buy sneakers and other items… tear the packs open and use them!
How to Dry Flowers in Silica Gel
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Danielle Pientka is the sewing and DIY blogger behind DIYDanielle.com. She taught herself to sew in 2011 when she wanted to make cloth diapers for her first son. She’s been sewing everything from ecofriendly items to kids products to clothing since, as it has become a passion. She loves learning how to do new things and teaching others in the process. She hopes to inspire other moms to take time for themselves to find their own creative passion.
Danielle lives in Maryland with her three young sons and her husband, Brandon. In her spare time, she gardens, reads, horseback rides, and has a small homestead with goats and ducks. Visit her shop to buy patterns or her sewing eBooks. Subscribe to her newsletter to get blog updates, free patterns and other printables by clicking here.
