This method is the simplest. It involves hanging of the flowers upside down in a warm and dry place. Drying takes about two weeks, depending on the specificity of the flowers. Wild and garden flowers can easily be dried. Dry flowers are also made out of “everlasting” plants. For best effects, you had better bind the flowers together in bunches.

Dry flowers can be produced by mechanical pressure used upon them. This is the second way to dry a plant. It is easy although its main feedback is that it leaves the dry flowers flat and without shape. Take a heavy object and place it on the wrapped flowers. For the wrapping you can use unglazed paper, such as newsprint or a telephone book. The drying takes from two up to four weeks to complete.

A wise way to prevent flattening of the flowers when drying is by burying them in drying materials, such as mixtures from sand, or borax, or corn meal. These three materials can be useful only in drying of specific kinds of flowers. A universal solution is silica gel. This gel is more expensive than the above-mentioned materials, but one of its basic priorities over others is that it can be used over and over again without having to replace it. It can virtually dry any kind of flower.
Getting dry flowers with the usage of silica gel is very easy. The gel has special indication when it is wet, so that you can conclude whether the flowers are dried. Usually the gel is white or blue when it is dry, and is composed of tiny crystals. If infiltrated by water, its colour gets more and more pinkish. When the flowers are dried, the colour of the gel will automatically change. Unused silica gel must be kept in air-tight containers. To dry the gel itself after using it with the flowers, you need to spread it on a tray and bake it in the oven until the crystals are blue again.

Talking about ovens, another great way to get your dry flowers is by putting the bunch in the microwave. It can take no more than several minutes but the effects are really magnificent. To prevent extreme drying, you may put a cup of water in the microwave before getting the flowers inside. The bunch itself must by surrounded by spread crystals of silica gel. Put the flowers in a microwave container or on a flat tray and keep the switch on up until three minutes. The dry flowers will be ready depending on their density and the size and number of petals. The heating time for denser plants with many petals will be about 3 minutes. Smaller flowers will take a minute or less to dry.

One unique idea of bringing Mother Nature into your home by way of a drink coaster is by picking some flowers in your garden and drying them to use for your project. It won’t cost you any money and you can have a wide variety of coasters to use for different occasions. They will also make the perfect gift to give to your family and friends. Since flowers can take as long as three weeks to dry, you can pick a selection of them and then choose the ones you want to use for making the coasters.

You will need to have a thick book in which you press the flowers you are going to use for each drink coaster. Use tissue paper for spreading the flowers on, but don’t let the flowers touch each other. Cover the flowers with more tissue, newspaper and cardboard that you have cut in the same size as that of the book you intend to use. Lay the book on top of the flowers and let sit for two or three weeks. If you don’t grow your own flowers you can bypass this step in by purchasing dried flowers at a craft store or by purchasing flowers from a garden center that you can dry.

Once the flowers are dry, you are ready to proceed to the next step of making your own beverage coasters. You do need to purchase panes of glass that measure 4 inches by 4 inches because this is the standard size of a drink coaster. You will also need to have clear glue and heavy aluminum foil tape. Use regular glass cleaner to clean the panes of glass and the edges. Arrange the flowers in whatever way you wish and lay them on one pane of glass and cover the flowers with another. Apply the glue to all four edges of the coaster.

Take strips of the aluminum foil tape and carefully apply this along the glued edges. Make sure you cover the four edges of the drink coaster and cut off any extra edges to give you a smooth finish. When the glue dries, you can remove the tape to have glorious dried flower coasters. The glass will not harm your furniture unless you drop it, in which case it will shatter. You can leave the coaster as it is so that either side can be placed under a glass or you can apply a cork or rubber backing to one of the sides as a way of protecting the surface of the table. In any case, you will have coasters that guests will admire and ask you where you managed to find such masterpieces. No doubt you will have plenty of orders to fill.