Freeze dried flowers

2009-01-29T12:58:00.003-08:00

If you enjoy doing crafts, you’ll enjoy this, try using candy in an arrangement. I have
seen peppermint candies heaped-up (arranged) like an old fashioned ice-cream sundae
served-up in a frosty mug or dish, complete with spoon & drinking straw. I’ve attached
candy canes to an advent calendar, allowing children to Savor the Flavor each day as they
count-down to Christmas, or attach colorful, favorite candies to dried wreaths, as mouth-
watering treats for little ones as well as us older kids.

Being a crafts person I search the online floral industry, where I can STOP & SHOP for silk flowers, dyed or natural Dried flowers, preserved plants, botanicals, dried wreaths, foliage, wood, gourds, & many
other items. I’m selecting the Chinese roses (look like wood), Chinese peony in cream, burnt oak/mango, Heliconias in burnt oak/mango, Buri tips in spice & Grass balls in
chocolate to make an arrangement for a shiny black ceramic vase. While your shopping,
select several burgundy Hydrangeas, to form a topiary tree. Simple & elegant arrange-
ments done in minimum amount of time bringing satisfaction & joy to those who do &
see.

Freeze dried flowers go through a process in which water is removed as vapor directly
from ice, without passing through the liquid state, with heated air, lowering the temp. of an object, using a vacuum to extract all the moisture from it, allowing you to pre- serve flowers from weddings, receptions, centerpieces, boutonnieres, bridal bouquets & corsages, as keepsakes & memories to last a lifetime.

How many of your remember the popularity of the kiln (50 yrs ago was a brick-lined
oven, used for drying clay substances)? It was used for firing ceramics, pottery, urns,
vases & dishes. some objects were handcrafted figurines,& ashtrays. Our neighbor had
a kiln & gave classes in the art. Her students learned how to operate a potters wheel,
work with the clay, color glazing, & the changes that took place during the firing. The
highlight of this artistic process was the actual firing of the kiln, seeing their finished art work when the kiln (cooled off) was opened. Many of those kilns are gone today,
replaced by electrical ones. I found information on the web, at www.kiln, where you
can purchase your own kiln, along with the potters table, & learn to throw (a potters term)
your own pots, vases & dinnerware.

A GREAT BIG THANK-YOU to our organic gardeners.
A floral design consultant in a family owned business, Anna Schuster enjoys developing new home improvement craft ideas using dried flowers and foliage

Dried Flower Arangements Birch branches

2009-01-29T12:58:00.001-08:00

We all need our privacy especially when we’re in the bathroom. Consider making natural birch branches into a free standing screen to conceal the great white throne. Decide on the size needed. Work it in a zig-zag (accordion style), securing it as you go with natural or colored raffia. Add pencil slim cattails in choice of colors (basil, bordeax, and mango, dk. brown, rust, or natural). Include some natural coco lashing, poking in at random a few polished heart shaped badham and mahogany pods in green, orange, red, or yellow. Finish this off with pro tea flowers combined with transparent oak leaves. If this is not sturdy enough to stand on its own, mount some of the stalks in painted concrete blocks and attach the end to the wall with hooks. Now you have your privacy plus an extra reading room. Grab a favorite magazine and read a page or two in solitude. But remember…DON’T HOG THE BATHROOM.

Now that the cold winter months are behind us, we have a perfect place in our home for a
new dried flower arrangement. How about a free standing fireplace screen using birch branches, snipping off the bottom ends to size needed? Mix in burgundy salt cedar and burgundy
preserved peppermint (Can’t you just smell that?). Tie them together with natural raffia. In the center attach 3 sun palms and 1 burgundy parchment hydrangea on a bed of burgundy preserved holly leaves and burgundy valasim tips. You won’t even miss the fire. After a search on the internet and magazines and catalogs, I found a page that sparked my imagination, solving a decorating problem. I have a narrow wall space in my home in need of a simple arrangement. I began by using a bundle of gold glittered birch branches, (on top of which we’ll add) 3 sun palms at staggered positions, overlapping them a bit, plus several green mushroom sponges slipped-in, along with green mahogany pods. In the center, place a green parchment hydrangea. Tie all this together with basil raffia, making a nice big gathered bow, leaving each end free, curling and hanging down.

A wooden post on your porch is the perfect place for natural birch branches. Wrap them around the post, pulling upward at different lengths. Mix in natural coco lashing. Work polished ata fruit and basil mahogany pods at random. Poke-in basil stone beans. Include a twig spray with bird nest as a neat tweet. Add an artificial bird. Tie this all together, by wrapping raffia around it and the post. Greet your guest with a warm “Welcome, glad you’re here”.

To preserve your original ideas, make it your policy to secure a copyright. Create, have fun.
Anna Schuster is a floral design consultant with Schusters of Texas, a family run business that specializes in growing and supplying dried flowers from their Texas Ranch to the retail and wholesale market place.