Modern Dried Flowers: 20 Everlasting Projects to Craft, Style, Keep and Share

“With our renewed appreciation of nature and shift towards slow living, dried flowers are now enjoying a well-deserved revival,” asserts floral designer Maynard in her pleasant debut, a guide to “master[ing] the basics of the dried flowers craft.” To help readers get started, Maynard lays out the necessary tools (brown string, kitchen scissors, and a tape measure among them), where to source flowers (local florists and foraging are good options), and some basic design principles (for instance, to create texture, one can combine smooth petals with coarse or feathery stems). Then come 20 rustic projects, with step-by-step photo instructions: there’s a pretty “floral crown,” a delicate white “everlasting corsage,” a woody “ode to autumn wreath,” and a clever “palm star wallpaper” decoration. There’s also a very helpful encyclopedic “visual guide to dried flowers” that breaks down 26 common dried plants and lists their seasonal availability, ideal drying methods, and how they’re best suited in an arrangement. Green-minded readers will appreciate the author’s perspective, as well, that dried arrangements last longer and are less wasteful than fresh ones, and therefore better for the environment. For crafters looking to mix up their floral projects, this is a no-brainer. (May)