DIY Project: Dried Flower Petal Candle Holder

Every time I get flowers, especially from Joseph, I always want to keep them in some sort of way. I am a very sentimental person and feel very guilty about throwing things away that have meaning. However, I am also realistic and realize that I cannot have bunches upon bunches of stems of flowers that have been hung upside down to dry just lying around everywhere.

This issue of throwing away flowers came up again after my wedding. Flowers for a wedding can cost a small fortune and even though I think I got a pretty good deal for only $1275, that is still a lot of money to spend on things that are disposable and going to die.

After the wedding, we were stuck with every single centerpiece, along with the giant arrangements for the ceremony. People did not take anything home because they really had no way of transporting the flowers because they were asked not to take the vases. So, we got stuck with all of them.

We were going to donate all of the flowers to a nursing home or hospital or something, but being so tired after the wedding, we got lazy and the flowers started dying. I didn't want to donate almost dead flowers. Because the flowers were almost dead, I couldn't really send them away for preservation either. Besides, that is really expensive and we were tapped after the wedding! . . . And still are, sadly.

So my aunt, who is an interior decorator, sat down with me to try to figure out what we could do with the flowers so that they did not just end up in the dumpster. Upon brainstorming together, we came up with getting a tall vase from Michael's or Homegoods or wherever, and filling it with the dried petals. Then, top the filled vase with a glass candle saucer to make it a candle holder. So I got to work!

It was inexpensive compared to sending off the flowers for preservation, which can be $300-$1,500+

Materials

1. 10 lbs. (two 5lb boxes) of silica gel, which can be found at any craft store in the floral department. I think it was $16.99 per box at Michael's, but I used a 40% off coupon for each box, making the total cost about $20 for both boxes.

2. A tall vase. Again, I went to Michael's. The vase was $14.99 and once again, I used a 40% off coupon, which brought the price to about $9.

3. A glass candle holder saucer. Once again, Michael's. It was $2.99 - pretty cheap.

4. Flower petals - you don't need many. There is a lot of space between petals. However, you can stuff a lot in there as well. More on that later.

5. A candle

6. Hot glue

7. Shoebox sized airtight containers - 1 for each type of flower you have ($1.49 each at Big Lots - I needed 4) 

8. Colander/pasta stainer

Instructions:

1.  Dismantle your flowers and separate the different types of petals into different airtight containers
- Spread a thin layer of the silica gel on the bottom of each container before placing your flowers in them. 

2. Dry your flowers
- You cannot just stuff flower petals into a vase without drying them. You will end up with a brown slimy mess as they decompose and break down. Drying them with silica gel will not only preserve their color pretty well, but it also dries out the flowers by drawing out all of the moisture so they don't turn into brown slime. 
- Once your flower petals are in the airtight containers, cover the petals with silica gel. Make sure to shake the container a bit so the silica gel gets in between the petals. You want the gel to get into as many cracks as possible so that it makes contact with every petal. Otherwise, some of your petals will turn into that slimy brown goop I mentioned earlier. 
- Place the lids on your containers. Let your petals sit in the containers with the silica gel for at least 5 days. You can check on your petals to see if they are dry before the 5 days are up. Even though mine felt dry, I just thought I was better safe than sorry by letting them dry some more. 
-  Put a colander over an empty container and pour the petals and silica gel into it. You are not going to completely get rid of all the silica gel, but that's OK. Just get most of it off the petals. Keep the leftover silica gel - you can reuse it for a future project!

This is what the box of silica gel looks like - again, it is in the floral department of any craft store

Spread silica gel in the bottom of containers, then add petals

Spread the silica gel over the petals and shake - make sure to cover well!

This is what your petals will look like once dried and the silica gel strained into another container

3. Get your vase and start stuffing it by layering your different petals
- If you don't have a ton of flowers, that is OK! The vase fills up pretty fast if you don't press the flowers down into the vase. However, if you have a ton of flowers like I did, you can press them to the bottom to get rid of the air and empty space between the petals. My vase was kind of tall, so I used a broomstick to do this.

Look at all that beautiful texture!

4. Glue your saucer onto the top of your vase

 5. Get a candle - you're done! (I need to get a different candle, but I needed to take a picture with something!)

And that's it! It is a little time consuming and not something that can be done in a weekend due to the drying process. However, this is a very easy project that even the inexperienced crafter can do (in my opinions).   Also, this is a great way to get to enjoy your flowers from all of those special occasions every day. And, the best part, this project is a hell of a lot cheaper than having your flowers preserved - and they will last forever!