Forever Flowers : Dry, Preserve, Display

Antonia De Vere, a top designer in dried floral creations, shows how to select, dry, and then work with flowers to their best advantage.

A top designer in dried floral welcomes you into her studio to learn the craft's potential. Today in floral design, dried flowers and botanicals give their fresh cousins a strong run for their long-held position as the classic material. Today, unrecognizable from the 1970s (when they were first trendy), dried flowers are a popular material for the most modern, contemporary creations in flower art.

• Antonia De Vere, a top designer in dried floral creations, here welcomes you into her studio to understand the potential you'll be able to enjoy when working with dried flowers.
• She shares how and why dried floral has become her career and her source of creative energy.
• In photos and text, De Vere shows you dozens of exciting ideas through her creations, which range from 10-foot-high restaurant installations to delicately shaped ikebana-inspired pieces to small sparks of pop art in bud vases.
• Learn how to select, dry, and assemble flowers and foliage.
• Then enjoy 18 step-by-step projects that bring De Vere's popular design style into your own home.

This art's sustainability and zero-waste focus--damaged flowers that can't be sold for fresh bouquets can be used productively--is another reason "forever flowers" are perfect for today.