When creating dried flower arrangements each person’s collection of dried material will be different. It depends if you are gathering from your garden or surrounding country side. Whether you are using air dried flowers, silica gel dried flowers, microwave dried flowers, or freeze dried flowers, it is using your own creativity and ingenuity. The style and character of your house and your own personal taste will also contribute to the way in which you design your dried flower arrangements.

It is much easier to find a vase or holder for dried flower arrangements, rather than finding just the perfect vase for fresh flowers. The following are a few creative suggestions: antique rose holders, sherry glasses, copper kettles, ash-trays, gravy boats, candlesticks, hanging salt pots.

When selecting a vase for dried flower arrangements a highly ornate container with bright colors would overpower the dried flowers. One with subdued colors would be more appropriate. Vases with a small neck are not recommended for dried flower arrangements, as it is difficult to insert the oasis. It is necessary for the oasis to fit tight in the container, and it cannot be glued to the container.

To achieve the correct size of the oasis for the container, press the opening of the vase on to the oasis and then try to cut out the exact shape with a sharp knife. If the piece of foam is too small for the vase, wedge it with pieces of the same material.

Glasses or vases on base or stem are great for dried flower arrangements, since the leaves, seeds, and grasses have room to hang attractively over the edge. To achieve this effect, the oasis needs to stand an inch or two above the rim in order that overhanging branches or flowers can be inserted around the sides.

It is better to leave a larger amount of oasis above the rim, since it is much easier to achieve the required height for dried flower arrangements, which should be one and a half times that of the vase. Fewer flowers will be needed for the center of dried flower arrangements.

To avoid the oasis from showing through glass containers, Spanish moss or leaves that blend with the color of dried flower arrangements can be placed between the foam and the glass.

When a basket is used for holding dried flower arrangements, you can press a lump of modeling clay on the bottom, to which the oasis can be fixed by means of long wires. The wires should be inserted through the oasis and as far as possible in to the clay. The clay makes the light basket heavier and more stable and it shrinks as it dries, which allows the wires to be held firmly in place.

Creating hanging dried flower arrangements “bouquet holders’ are available from craft stores of from your local florist. They are bricks of oasis in a plastic holder with a hanger. Since they are rectangular, an arrangement based on them will be roughly oval.

If you are creating large or longer hanging dried flower arrangements, two or more bricks of oasis can be fixed together by running strong wires through the plastic container. When the wires have pierced through the bottom brick, bend the points into hooks and then pull the wires back up until the hooks grip the oasis firmly. The wires coming out at the top can be bent into loops for hanging your dried flower arrangements.

For round shapes a saucer can be used as a guide. The vertical edges should be well smoothed off.

If your desire is to have your dried flower arrangement different from the base, start by defining the outer contours by means of long dried flower spikes, seed-heads, and branches with leaves, or ferns, and then work within this outline. It is possible to create round, oval or oblong dried flower arrangements based on a rectangular bouquet holder.

Appropriate filler flowers for dried flower arrangements are Hydrangea, or Yarrow, or more delicate material such as golden rod and Baby’s Breath are good for filling in large gaps.

The arranging of the dried flowers starts with distinctive flowers such as straw flowers or thistles tied in bunches and then add spiked flowers like larkspur to give life to the shape. The final phase includes grasses and Baby’s Breath to soften the contours and fill in the gaps.

If a bouquet holder is not used for hanging dried flower arrangements the final design would become flat. To avoid this, it is best to leave the stems of the dried flowers in the middle a little longer in order that they stand out. If you start with a good shape, it is easier to continue, but it is much more challenging trying to correct a bad shape while you are working.

We have a nice selection of freeze dried rose petals that you can use for your own decorating projects.