If your garden is producing beautiful flowers and you’d like to save them for homemade dried arrangements, this simple flower drying formula gets the job done without spending a fortune on specialty supplies. It’s an easy budget-friendly way to preserve blooms for wreaths, framed botanicals, sachets, and craft projects you’ll actually use.
We'd love to see how your arrangements came out, feel free to share them in the photos below!
- 🧰 Materials You'll Need
- 🔧 Tools & Equipment
- 🛠️ How to Dry Flowers with Cornmeal and Borax
- 🛠️ How to Use Dried Flowers
- 🎨 Customization Ideas
- 🛡️ Safety and Care
- 📦 Storage
- 💸 Estimated Cost
- 🛍️ Need Help Finding Everything?
- ❓ Frequently Asked Questions about MYO: Flower Drying Formula
- 📌 Love this MYO: Flower Drying Formula? Pin it!
- 🖨️ Print-Friendly How-To: MYO: Flower Drying Formula
Materials You’ll Need
- 5 cups white cornmeal
- 1 1/2 cups borax
- Fresh flowers
Tools & Equipment
- Shallow container or paper bag, such as a lunch sack
- Measuring cups
- Large spoon or scoop for pouring the drying mix
How to Dry Flowers with Cornmeal and Borax
- Combine the white cornmeal and borax, ensuring that they mix well.
- Pour some of the drying mixture into a shallow container or paper bag, such as a lunch sack.
- Place the flowers on the mix.
- Gently pour the remaining mix over the flowers, making sure they are completely covered.
- The recipe can be doubled or tripled as needed if you’re drying a larger batch.
- Place the container or bag in a cool dark area to set for 2 weeks.
- Carefully remove the flowers from the bag when drying time is complete.
This borax and cornmeal method works as a practical homemade desiccant mix, and extension gardening guides note that borax-cornmeal blends are commonly used for drying flowers over roughly 1 to 2 weeks in a warm or dry location, depending on the bloom and moisture level. See Iowa State University Extension’s flower drying guide for the broader technique background and handling tips: Drying Flowers.
These dried flowers will last for years.
How to Use Dried Flowers
- Tuck them into homemade dried arrangements.
- Add them to wreaths, shadow boxes, or scrapbook pages.
- Use small blossoms in cards, bookmarks, or gift toppers.
- Blend petals into potpourri or sachets.
- If you’d rather preserve blooms another way, take a look at How to Press Flowers or How to Preserve your Fresh Cut Flowers.
Customization Ideas
- For small delicate blooms: Use a shallow container so you can pour the mixture slowly and avoid crushing petals.
- For larger batches: Double or triple the formula as needed so every flower can be fully covered.
- For gift-making: Dry flowers in coordinating colors for wreaths, mason jar arrangements, or handmade framed botanical art.
- For edible flower projects: If you want decorative flowers for treats instead of dried arrangements, try Make Your own Candied Flowers.
Safety and Care
- Handle dried flowers gently. Once dry, petals and stems can become brittle.
- Keep the drying mixture and finished flowers in a dry area while they cure. Excess moisture can lead to mold or spoil the results.
- Avoid using this drying mix for flowers that will be eaten later. This project is for decorative use only.
- Wash your hands after handling borax, and keep both the mix and the finished project away from small children and pets.
Storage
Store finished dried flowers in a cool, dark, dry place. If you’re not arranging them right away, set them in a box or container where they won’t be crushed. Low humidity matters here. Damp storage can soften petals and invite mold, which is exactly the nonsense you just worked two weeks to avoid.
Estimated Cost
Estimated project cost: about $2.75 for one batch of drying formula, not including reusable tools or the flowers themselves if you’re cutting them from your own garden. Prices vary by store and package size, so treat that as a practical estimate rather than gospel.
🛍️ Need Help Finding Everything?
- White cornmeal at Walmart
- White cornmeal on Amazon
- Borax at Walmart
- Borax on Amazon
- Paper lunch sacks at Walmart
Frequently Asked Questions about MYO: Flower Drying Formula
Yes. This formula can be doubled or tripled as needed. The important part is having enough mix to fully cover the flowers so they dry evenly.
Yes. Cover the flowers completely with the cornmeal and borax mixture. Any exposed areas may dry unevenly or lose their shape.
Yes. A shallow container or a paper bag such as a lunch sack both work for this method. Just make sure the flowers stay supported and fully covered by the mix.
Set them aside in a cool dark area for 2 weeks, then remove them carefully. Thicker blooms may still need gentler handling because dried petals can be fragile.
Keep them in a cool dark area while the mixture does its work. You also want the spot to stay dry, since moisture can interfere with proper drying.
When dried and stored well, these dried flowers will last for years. Keep them out of damp areas and handle them carefully so petals do not crumble.
You can sometimes reuse it if it stays completely dry and clean, but discard it if it feels damp, clumps badly, or contains bits of plant material. A fresh batch is usually the better choice when you want the best result.
Use them in dried arrangements, wreaths, framed art, sachets, scrapbook pages, card-making, or other decorative craft projects. They’re especially handy when you want to save blooms from your own garden.
Yes. Since the mix contains borax, this project should be used for decorative flowers only, not for flowers you plan to eat or use in food projects.
📌 Love this MYO: Flower Drying Formula? Pin it!
Did you try this project? I’d love to hear what flowers you dried and how you used them in your arrangements.
🖨️ Print-Friendly How-To: MYO: Flower Drying Formula
MYO: Flower Drying Formula
Ingredients
- 5 cups white cornmeal
- 1 ½ cups borax
- Fresh flowers
Equipment
Instructions
- Combine the white cornmeal and borax, ensuring that they mix well.
- Pour some of the drying mixture into a shallow container or paper bag, such as a lunch sack.
- Place the flowers on the mix.
- Gently pour the remaining mix over the flowers, making sure they are completely covered.
- Double or triple the formula as needed.
- Place in a cool dark area to set for 2 weeks.
- Carefully remove the flowers from the bag when drying time is complete.
- https://www.budget101.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/5ca0087181134_myo-flower-drying-formula-.jpeg
- https://www.budget101.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/homemade-flower-drying-formula-cornmeal-borax.jpg
- Estimated cost covers consumable materials only and will vary by store and package size.
- This project is for decorative use only and should not be used for flowers intended for eating.
- Keep the drying mix and dried flowers away from moisture, children, and pets.
- Handle dried flowers gently because petals and stems can become brittle.
Recipe Size Alteration
💡 If you altered the ingredients above by doubling or tripling the recipe, you may also need to change the pan/dish size and adjust the cook time.
I have been drying flowers and herbs for years to use in homemade soap, facial creams and extracts. If you are planning to use the blooms for any topical use, skip the borax and just use the cornmeal.
Another way to do this, especially if you do not care about retaining the exact color on a bloom, is to air dry it! For roses and herbs, I hang them from a wire clothes hanger using a clothespin and cover the blooms with cheesecloth or a fine netting, and put them in a closet with a fan running.
For showpieces, I buy the fine grain silicate from the hobby store and place them in a Tupperware container.