Collecting things

[Lemon Cheesecake]

You can do wax paper as well...but she used some type of drying crystals and I forget what they are called now.

[Adol Christin]

Silica? Like the stuff that come in backpack when you buy a new one?

[MissAutumn]

You can get flower presses instead of using a book. It's two bits of wood that you tighten with wing nuts. You put the flowers between two bits of paper and have that in between some cardboard. Then pop it into the press, tighten it and leave for a month.

I'm curious about the drying crystals.

Adol - pub quizzes are fun. It's a great way to spend time with your friends. I suck at the pop culture rounds but my friends are usually good at those. We all did different degrees so it helps for the specialised subject rounds. We're getting good use out of our education. XD

[Lemon Cheesecake]

I think it was a type of silica gel crystals ...I looked it up and this is close to what she does:

[+] SPOILER

https://feltmagnet.com/crafts/Preserving-Flowers-Six-Ways-of-Drying-Flowers

It dries flowers in a few days, so they retain good color. The flowers usually dry brilliant and clear and in their natural state. In fact, flowers that were dried in silica gel look as if they were fresh picked.

Silica gel absorbs moisture from the flower, and as it does, the blue dots in the mixture turn pink, indicating that the maximum moisture content had been reached. Drying with silica gel must be done in covered airtight containers. You can reuse silica gel, but you must dry it out first. You can do this by placing it in a baking dish and putting it in a 250 degree F oven . When the blue color returns, you can take it out and use it again.

1. Fill any airtight flat container with about one inch of silica gel.

2. Place the flower heads face up in the mixture. If the flower is flat-petaled, like a daisy, place it face down. Gently press the flower into the silica gel and make sure that the insides of the flower are also covered with the mixture.

3. Gently cover the entire flower with more silica gel until it is entirely covered. As you cover the flower be careful not to disturb the natural arrangement of the petals.

4. Place the cover on the airtight container.

5. Check you flowers everday until they reach the point of being dry, but not brittle. If you leave the flowers in the silica gel too long they will become brittle and shatter like glass when they are removed.

6. When the flowers are ready gently remove them with a slotted spoon.

7. If any silica gel remains on the flower, gently remove it with a watercolor paint brush.

It can take about two to three days for thin petaled flowers to dry and five to seven days for fleshier flowers to dry.

She also takes the flowers from wedding bouquets, preserves them and makes a pressed flower or shadow box picture for people. I don't know all her secrets because how she preserves and arranges the flowers is her profession.

[MissAutumn]

Thanks for looking that up for us, Lemon. I'm going to have to try that technique out.

That's so cool that she can do that. That's a really sweet memento idea. Fair enough, she has to keep her craft a secret.

[Lemon Cheesecake]

I tried pressing flowers and trying to arrange them quite awhile back but I really don't have the creative aptitude to arrange them that some people have.

[Mouse]

I collect totoro things and mugs

[Lemon Cheesecake]

I like to collect coffee mugs and porcelain tea cups... although because they are so fragile I generally use mugs.

Windlyn has a couple cute mugs to purchase. I have a pengwing winter mug and love it!! (Although I love pengwings in general).

I wonder if they ship internationally?

[MissAutumn]

Lemon Cheesecake if I didn't have so many mugs, I would get the Halloween Pengwings mug. It's cute.

[MonkeyGirl18]

I'm into collection anything Jojo's Bizarre Adventure. ;v;

[Floralor]

I've had a lot of different little collections, and my room is almost entirely comprised of them. My current collections include: dolls (porcelain and vintage baby dolls), vintage toys, retro greeting cards and children's books (as inspiration/ references for art), and squirrels.

Really, I just pick up anything that I think looks pretty, like a fairy or a crow.

[galled]

Can you be more specific about what you mean by "vintage?" I think it can mean so many things, but I'd like to know (at least in my imagination) what you're talking about.

[MonkeyGirl18]

I've gone down the deep end! I need to collect as many figs as I can for things I like!

[npixelz]

I used to collect dice... until one fateful spring cleaning when my mom threw them out

But I also have a small collection of Pop figures AND Nendoroids

Also I have a lot of Lego, but I think I'm done with that as my mom said she wouldn't buy me anymore

[Lemon Cheesecake]

I've stopped collecting things because I've run out of room.