Here
are useful tips to get you started designing with Drieds.
Opening
Dried and Preserved Roses
When
working with dried roses, keep a tea kettle of water in your design area for
steaming. Hold rose head in steam for a few seconds. Then, blow
directly into blossom. The rose will open to about three times the dried
size. Shape the petals with your fingers.
Using
Pods and Sticks
When
using hot melt glue with pods or glossy finish sticks, first scrape or sand the
surface of the material. Roughening the surface and removing the slick
finish makes the glue adhere securely. Scrape or break cinnamon sticks to
release the fragrance.
Bunching
Small Flowers
For
design labor efficiency, reduce the number of insertions in a dried arrangement
by bunching smaller flowers and materials into clusters.
The
Wire Pick Method
Group
the materials in your fingers. Place a wired wooden pick alongside the
materials and attach with the wire. Sometimes, taping around the picked
materials forms a firmer grouping for inserting into a design.
Reconditioning
Natural Flowers
Enhance
the beauty of most dried flowers by lightly moistening them with water from a
spritzer, or by steaming with a clothes steamer. Use this conditioning
process just prior to designing. The materials will be more pliable and
naturally shaped.
Misting
Misting
enhances garden dried flowers in similar fashion as steaming. Misting
makes materials more pliable. Misting is a longer reconditioning process
than steaming, whereby materials need to dry thoroughly before using.
Steaming
Use
a steaming tea kettle or humidifier to recondition most garden dried
flowers. Steaming fluffs fuller blossoms like Hydrangea and fillers like
gyps, German Statice, Caspia, and Broom Bloom. Steaming relaxes Canella,
enabling you to form it into desirable lines and curves. Steaming loosens natural Larkspur florets making the spikes
fuller.
Displaying
Dried and Preserved Materials
We
recommend storing and displaying preserved and dried products in climate
controlled environments, out of direct sunlight and humidity. In some
conditions, moisture may cause preserved materials to drip/bleed glycerin and
dye. When using preserved foliage, protect furniture and linens by
placing a covering between your arrangement and the surface it rests upon.
Caution!
Avoid Moisture for Dyed and Preserved Foliages
Be
careful where you use dyed and preserved foliage. If placed in high
humidity or in damp outside weather conditions, they might absorb enough
moisture to drip, and the dye might run.
Any dyed
and preserved materials that have a tendency to bleed, such as Oak,
Leatherleaf, Galax and Magnolia leaves, should not be exposed to
moisture.
Storing
Dried and Preserved Flowers
All
natural dried materials/garden flowers have limited life. They are simply
fresh materials with extended life. Keep unused dried flowers and grasses
in plastic bags. This method of storage keeps them from getting too dry
and brittle in a heated or air-conditioned room. Keep garden dried
flowers in an atmosphere with consistent temperature and moisture. When
garden dried flowers are in fluctuating conditions of temperature and humidity,
they have a tendency to lose a little color each time there is an extreme
change. Placing many dried flowers and
grasses in the refrigerator does improve pliability. Do not store dried
materials in refrigeration for more than a day or two as they might mold.
Undesirable
Aroma
Any
unusual aroma will typically clear after the product has aired for a few
days. In the interim, you may mist the product with any air
freshener.
Mosses
Lightly
misting green mosses with Design Master Dipit Dip & Rinse Floral Dye or a
similar product enriches the color of any moss that has faded color.
Touch
Up
Use
spray paint to touch up any damaged painted material. Often, toning the
color with a lighter or darker value is better than trying to match the color
exactly.
Final
Finish
Spray
your dried arrangements with a light covering of Design Master Super Surface
Sealer or another clear pre-treatment sealer. This coating protects the
natural beauty of dried materials and prevents the shattering of fragile
flowers.
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