Preserving a corsage

Prom night comes with a lot of mementos—the expensive photos, the commemorative party favors—but there’s no sweeter keepsake than your corsage. Okay, so I’m a couple months late for prom season, but keep this in mind for next year’s prom or homecoming dance or winter formal or whatever. Here are a few tips for keeping a corsage awesome-looking for years to come:

*Hang it upside down

Whenever you’re drying flowers, the first thing you want to do hang them upside down in your closet or some other dark, dry place (using string or dental floss). The color will stay brighter, longer, and the flowers will retain their shape.

*Press it

For ease of storage, flower pressing can’t be beat. You know the drill…arrange the flowers, squish them in a heavy book (use a clamp if you want to be hardcore about it), and wait, oh, a few months or so. Then your flowers will be album-ready and a hell of a lot easier to keep intact than a non-flattened dried corsage.

*Shellac it

Now, I’m no crafty type, so instead of giving you a bunch of misinformed, random links, I’m just going to suggest asking your local craft supply store. Basically, you’ll be looking for a polyresin type thingy, but the process is awfully complicated and sometimes involves letting the flowers drink up the plastic so they’re hard inside and out. Honestly, I wouldn’t bother with all that, but some people like doing weird craft stuff like this.

One more tip: if you notice mold or anything else gross growing on the flowers, throw them out. Nostalgia isn’t worth getting sick. And you’ll always have that cheap commemorative prom mug.

~ by defiantfashion on August 11, 2009.