Spring is coming! Floral craft ideas for February
It’s the first week in February and as I look out the window at 3pm I can’t tell if it’s overcast or starting to get dark. But there are some hints that spring is just around the corner. Garden flowers already in bloom here are daffodils, early flowering cherry, snowdrops and hellebores.
Spring crafts
There are some spring crafts you can be getting on with at this time of year. I think interactions with nature in any form are good for the soul and fend off seasonal affective disorder (SAD). If you don’t grow your own, an inexpensive trip to the florist may be just the excuse you need to go outside despite the weather!
Drying Pussy Willow
Pussy Willow has the botanical name Salix caprea. The little furry leaf buds start to burst forth at this time of year. They are easy to source fresh from a florist at between 30p and £1 a stem, and it’s easy to dry your own. If you’d like to support UK growers, ask the florist where they come from. Once you’ve dried them you can keep them year-round! Just display a few stems in a tall vase for a fresh modern feel.
I just stand the woody stems upright to dry in my airing cupboard for about ten days. But I know modern homes don’t tend to have them, so here is a modern variation.
How to dry Pussy Willow
- Find a cardboard box tall enough to take the stems upright (fresh ones can be anywhere between about 40cm and 70cm tall).
- Place the box up against a working radiator, which will allow the air inside to warm up.
- Fill the box with the loose upright stems, trying to separate them a little to allow for air circulation and prevent mold forming. Don’t use a vase!
- Check every few days for at least ten days until they’re fully dried.
- Mold is due to poor air circulation so you could also put holes at the top and bottom of the box to allow cool air to flow in at the bottom and warm air out at the top.
If the stems aren’t fully dried their tops might look fine, but the bottoms will go moldy inside the vase where the fresh air doesn’t reach.
Buy dried Pussy Willow when available.
Pressing Daffodils
I don’t tend to pick daffodils from my garden as they’re scarce and a living treat! I generally buy a big bunch of small flowered UK narcissi such as Sol d’Or from the florist. These usually work out at about £3 per bunch and these small varieties often have multiple flower heads per stem – Sol d’Or can have as many as seven. Small blooms are easier to work with when making pressed flower collages and pictures. Sol d’Or has clear yellow flowers with a darker trumpet. Buy pressed Daffodils – available seasonally.
How to press Daffodils
- As soon as a bloom is fully open, cut it off just behind the head, with no stem attached. Each main daffodil stem will continue to flower for a few days in water, so revisit everyday and cut off new flowers as they open.
- Place flat in a flower press or between sheets of absorbent cotton or paper inside a book weighed down.
- Leave for three weeks in a warm place to dry.
- Check that the flowers are crisp to the touch before carefully peeling them off the pressing paper.
If you’ve never used a flower press before, read my back to basics post.
More spring craft ideas
More pressed flowers
The cherry blossom is just coming into bloom, which is another flower that presses well. If you’re off to the florist looking for daffodils, they usually have gypsophila year-round. Gyp is quick and easy to press and is particularly popular for cardmaking, especially for weddings. The florist may also have mimosa at this time of year, which has tiny yellow pompom flowers a bit like gyp, and also presses well.
Dry some foliage
Cornish Eucalyptus parvifolia is available from florists at this time of year – it’s a small-leafed Eucalyptus that is also known as Parvi. It can be dried in the same way as the Pussy Willow above, or you can hang it upside down somewhere warm if you have the space. Once dry and crispy it can be added to mixed bouquets and arrangements or snipped down in flower crowns and wreaths. The leaves have a gently citrus scent so can be added to potpourri.
Make a DIY Valentines bouquet
It’s less than a fortnight until Valentine’s Day on Feb 14th so why not put some dried flowers together for a bouquet? One I made recently consisted of a mix of textures and shades of red.
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