Repurposing Your Flowers, Make Potpourri

When I first laid eyes upon my bridal bouquet, I was absolutely amazed at not only it's beauty but by the sheer amount of flowers and succulents that went into making one flower arrangement for one day. Then to look at all of my bridesmaids bouquets and the church arrangements, there were quite a lot of flowers adding themselves up. I have heard of brides drying their bouquets out and saving them, which I think is a lovely idea. In my particular case, I imagined myself setting my bouquet up to dry and it becoming a wilty, flaky, gross shell of the beauty it once was (believe me, I've tried to dry whole bouquets before) so I tried to think of alternate uses for my glorious arrangement. While I left my bouquet in water for a couple of days to enjoy it, I decided that I would prep the flowers for potpourri and replant the succulents in the hopes they would grow* (I'd been told they would). Before we left for our honeymoon, I carefully dissected my bridal bouquet and one of the bridesmaids bouquets that had been left behind, in order to prep it for drying. And so my first foray into making potpourri began. I figured I always had the pictures my photographer took of the bouquets, if the potpourri making went south.

First of all, I think this is a great way to save every bouquet whether it's your bridal bouquet or just a bi weekly flower arrangement you grab from the grocery store. Once those babies start drying out on their own, why not start saving them for a big potpourri batch. (note: flowers will shrivel and become smaller so saving up is not a bad idea) I actually added my Valentine's and and every day bouquet to this batch to add a little color.

I purchased some wholesale fragrance oils from Wellington Fragrance where I was able to grab a couple small viles and also get some samples of others. It didn't break the bank and they have a huge selection. I also purchased some orris root, which is a fixative and helps retain fragrance in the potpourri mixture. I think that you can store your potpourri pretty much anywhere where you can have your fragrance waft without letting it all release at once. I found these adorable mason jars on Crafty Steals, and think these might work just perfectly.

Storing the potpourri in a mason jar I had purchased at a vintage consignment shop, I fulled a little netting over the opening and screwed on the outer ring of the lid to leave open for the sweet fragrance to waft through our downstairs bathroom and into the entry way. I though that was an appropriate place to set up some sweet smelling, homemade potpourri. Making potpourri is a time intensive process as in, between steps, a lot of time passes, but I think it is worth it.

Have you ever made your own potpourri? Some great tutorials can be found here, here and here, so find the one that motivates you!

*For interested parties, the strongest succulents are still alive at press time. We lost a couple while we were away but the remainder have rooted themselves in the dirt and look like their staying!
** Professional photos by Alvah Reida