(WXMI) — Valentine’s Day is wonderful for sharing gifts with people you love, but some of those gifts might not last as long as your affection. So, before your flowers ripen for the garbage, here are some ways you can repurpose your bouquets and save yourself the extra waste.
Dried Flower Bouquets
This requires the least amount of effort, and yields a gorgeous result. There are numerous methods for drying bouquets, but the simplest involves hanging the flowers upside down in a dry, dark area (like a closet) after two to three weeks.
For details on how to do that yourself,click here.
Pressed flowers
This one is for the fans of arts and crafts. Pressed flowers are great additions to homemade gifts. They can be framed, added to holiday cards, art pieces and more! Details on how to press flowers can be found here.
Rose water and rose oil
Rose water and oil have many uses from cooking to cosmetics, and a batch can last for months. You probably have many of the ingredients at home!
Fragrant potpourri
You can really make this one your own. By combining your favorite essential oils, herbs and dried flowers in a glass jar, you can create a sweet-smelling potpourri gift for your friends and family, or accent your home.
Flower soaps
You might want to keep this in your back pocket for Mother’s Day! The fresh blooms or petals can add fresh scents to homemade bar soaps. You can do this by melting a bar of soap with some water, or by creating your own mixture.
Floral bath salts
If you love taking baths and already have salts lying around, making fragrant bath salts is relatively easy! You can find recipesfor specific flowers online, or create your own mixture.
Floral confetti
Dried flower petals are an environmentally friendly substitute for throwing rice at weddings and make for colorful party confetti!
Fragrant room spray
Add flower petals to a mixture of alcohol, essential oil and other ingredients to create a natural room spray.
Jewelry
Creating handmade floral jewelry can capture the special memories made on Valentine's Day. Here are some ideas.
Compost them
Leftover V-day flowers break down nicely to create fertilizer. The seeds could even sprout new flowers!
