Bottle Flowers And Preserve Them In Jars With A Clever DIY

Who doesn't want to enjoy flowers longer than their sadly short life span after cutting, preserving one of the most beautiful parts of summer? With just a few jars and some oil you can create your own long lasting herbarium jars to display your flowers for blessedly longer period of time. These unique flower displays can make excellent gifts, and depending on whether you opt for fresh or dried flowers, they can last anywhere from a few weeks to years. 

Creating these jars doesn't have to be an expensive undertaking. Scavenge your recycling for clear jars with lids or tops, or purchase clear bottles like the Otis Classic small glass jars with lids. You may already have some mineral oil or baby oil on hand if you've been trying some brilliant baby oil hacks, but if not, you'll need to purchase that as well. Then you just need your flowers, grasses, or other plant material. While your display will last far longer if you use dried flowers, you can also opt for fresh flowers if you just want a temporary decoration. 

Once you have your jar, oil, and flowers ready, it's time to assemble your herbarium. Gently fill your jar with flowers. If necessary you can use a skewer or tweezers to help arrange them inside the jar. Once they are situated and you're happy with how they look, you're ready to slowly add your oil. Fill the jar up to around the neck, or a little below the lid. Then you can either place or glue the lid on. Consider wrapping a ribbon around the neck of your jar for an extra pop of color.

While the type of flowers you fill your jar with are up to you, dried flowers are definitely the way to go if you want your display to last. It's easier than you may think to dry some of your favorite flowers. Statice, strawflower, and gomphrena are especially good options since they keep their brilliant colors even when dried. You can always add colorful stones, mosses, and other bits of nature to the jars as well, creating your own unique cottage-core creations.