Storque articles by dancingcircle

The Everlasting Garden: Easy Tips for Drying Flowers

2008-09-12T11:21:00Z

Leaves are already turning red and gold, reminding us fall is quickly approaching. This year, why not save some of your garden's splendor to liven up those dark winter months?

Beautiful and natural dried flowers are a lovely and inexpensive alternative to fresh bouquets: Lavender and roses especially give off a natural perfume and last a surprisingly long time. Dried flowers also make wonderful gift toppers for your holiday packages. If you don't garden, visit your local farmer's market or even a pretty nearby field for a bounty of beautiful fresh flowers and grasses. Try these three easy techniques to dry a variety of common garden flowers and then have fun with easy arrangement ideas to display your treasures.

Firstly, remember to harvest flowers when they're at their peak. Plants past their prime do not make good candidates for drying or preserving and could rot or infect the rest of your supply. Harvest flowers in the early morning or a cool evening when they're nice and perky and haven't been tired out by the sun.

Technique 1: Air Drying
This is the simplest method and produces lovely bouquets suitable for arrangements. Simply gather cut flowers, strip most of the bottom foliage, and bind small to medium sized bunches together with a rubber band. The band will contract as the flowers begin to dry and shrink. Hang upside down in a well ventilated area away from direct sunlight. Be sure to leave room between drying bunches for air to freely circulate. You can hang the flowers from wire coat hangers, clothes lines, ropes: just about anything will work. The drying process will take anywhere from a couple of days to a few weeks, depending on humidity levels in your region. When flowers are completely dry you should store them flat, wrapped in tissue paper in cardboard boxes or ventilated plastic storage containers. Expect flowers to shrink by 50% or more and to fade and darken in color. It's fun to see the lovely vintage hues you can create by drying lighter colors. Choose a dark, fairly cool location for long term storage. The best flowers for this method include: roses, larkspur, strawflowers, grasses, herbs, lavender, tansy and yarrow.

Technique 2: Drying Flowers with Silica Gel
If you want a more accurate rendition of your prize flowers you might want to experiment with silica gel. A sandy-like substance, it's a preserving medium appropriate for sturdier plants such as roses, zinnias and some dahlias: Fragile blooms with thin petals probably won't survive this method. You can find silica gel at any larger craft store that carries floral products. The trick is to prepare a large container with enough granules to completely bury your flower. After a few days — up to week in some cases — you should gently remove the bloom and carefully dust off any powdery residue to reveal a lovely dried flower. Like the air dry method above, colors will tend to change with this technique as well — count on at least a few shades darker than the original hue. Also, silica may be "recycled" and used over and over. The best flowers for this method include: roses, zinnias, dahlias, daisies and peonies.

Technique 3: From Fresh to Dried in a Vase
Some flowers are great candidates for the simplest drying method of all. Hydrangea is a great example for this method. Harvest fully developed hydrangea heads in late summer or early fall — you'll know they're ready when they feel papery to the touch. Arrange the stalks in a vase with water and simply let the water evaporate. In most cases, your flowers will remain upright and look perky even though they're starting to dry. After a few weeks you can work with them or simply leave as a beautiful decoration. The best choices for this method include baby's breath, pearly everlasting, bachelor's button, and hydrangea.

Keep these simple tips in mind to prolong the life of your dried flowers. Make sure to display away from direct sunlight and high humidity — both elements will fade and/or break down flowers quickly. Of course, always display your arrangement well away from any flame source. Most dried flowers are best suited for indoor use — wind and sun can ruin a pretty display quickly.

Here are a few more tips for different flower arrangements!

To make a simple swag: Lay out your favorite dried grasses and flowers vertically. Working in roughly a diamond shape, begin to gather them until you have a pleasing amount. Use raffia or ribbon to tie them off. Display and enjoy.

To make a simple gift topper: Create tiny bouquets of sturdy botanicals. Gather a few sticks and/or cones. Wrap gift and glue flower "arrangement" to top.

To create an easy arrangement: Allow hydrangea, baby's breath and or grasses to dry naturally in a vase.

Get busy with your garden and see what path nature takes!

Looking for more natural How-Tos? Check out How-To Make Natural Dye with the Etsy Labs!

Shipping How-to: the Final Frontier

2008-05-16T18:50:00Z

Hey Sellers!

A big shout-out to Dancingcircle who saw a hole in our Beginner's Guide and ended up filling it in. Shipping is so important for our Etsy sellers and she's made a great contribution to making it easier. If you have ideas for useful how-tos to help your fellow sellers, post in the comments below or use our pitch form.

Most Etsy sellers know all about how to get your precious packages from here to there.

Wait. You don’t? Well, welcome to the ever changing world of shipping! It's not always glamorous, but is vital to your online reputation. Here’s a crash course for new sellers or anyone who needs a refresher.

Be Prepared – Create a mini shipping center:
•   Invest in a postal scale — You will probably need to weigh packages in order to determine and compare shipping rates.

•   Have a flexible tape measure handy — Many carriers use what’s called “dimensional weight” and charge by box size instead of weight.

•   Decide what packaging you will use and stockpile supplies —

Some examples might include: bubble wrap, tissue paper, foam or packing peanuts.
Keep in mind that thousands of pieces of mail go through a variety of delivery systems each day. Pack your parcel securely to insure safe delivery.
If you know you’ll be sending boxes regularly it might pay off to invest in a sturdy tape gun and a package of clear, postal grade packing tape.
Whether you plan to buy boxes, order free ones online from USPS.com or use a form of recycled packaging — be prepared. Don’t wait until the pickup time before you start hunting around for a box.

•   Is your item fragile? You might want to affix an alert/warning label to your box.

•   Assemble promotional items such as business cards, thank you notes or care tip sheets you intend to send with your package.

Ok – so now you’re ready to prepare a professional package destined to make it around the world safely.

But how much will it cost and what should you charge your customer?
•   Do your homework and research at least 2 or 3 carriers. Based on price and time in transit, determine which carriers might work out best for your special items. Spend some time playing with shipping calculators: enter random zip codes near and far with different sized boxes and weights.

•   It’s easy to set up your own account through USPS, UPS or FedEx by visiting their websites. Make sure you clearly understand each carrier’s shipping timeframes, if they include delivery confirmation, and where you will need to drop off packages or how to schedule a pick up. Don’t forget to check out their claims or lost package policies.

•   Many sellers save time and money by purchasing and printing shipping labels at home online via PayPal or individual carriers’ websites. You will need to buy labels to use with your printer or have packing tape on hand to securely affix labels to your packages. Do not tape over bar codes!

• If you ship very often, you maybe be eligible for discounts through UPS, FedEx, and DHL.

• Shipping companies usually increase rates about once a year. Pay close attention to service updates and announcements. Reputable carriers advise customers at least a month or so in advance of important changes and you’ll need that time to update your listings to reflect higher shipping fees.

So now you’ve got a pretty good idea of what it will cost to send your package from here to there and how long it will take.
It’s time to set up your Etsy shipping profile. Etsy now offers a specific Policy page where you can lay out all of this information (read the Hello Policy article for more suggestions).

Explain your shipping policies clearly and be sure to let potential customers know:

•   How often or quickly you ship

•   What carrier (or carriers) you use

•   Whether delivery confirmation and/or insurance is offered or included

•   About how long it will take to receive their purchases

•   Whether you offer any “rush” or “overnight” services – especially around the holidays

•   Do not select the “everywhere else” option unless you’re confident you can ship your items “anywhere” for the rate you’ve indicated. Don’t get caught in an embarrassing predicament where you end up paying more for shipping than proceeds from the total sale!

Do you plan to ship internationally?
• If so, consider offering service to just a few countries to start with until you’re comfortable with procedures.   Various countries prohibit certain items and you are responsible for researching import restrictions. The USPS website is an excellent source for detailed restrictions.

• Pay close attention to customs forms. You may need a telephone number for the recipient. Do not check the box indicating “gift” when sending purchased goods through customs. Shipping internationally gets pretty easy with a bit of experience and it’s fun.

Finally – Get to know your mail or delivery person
The old saying “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know” can really help when you’re navigating the often bewildering world of shipping.    Most people love to talk about themselves and their work. A little friendliness can go a long way toward learning the tricks of the trade!

See more tips and tricks for shipping!