in bloom

Here's a clever way to enjoy the season's most popular and colorful flowers. Don't clip pansies just to bunch them together in a vase. Instead, wax the blooms to use as unexpected accents. Look for a wax melter at a crafts store, or pull out an old double boiler. Melt paraffin wax at a low temperature, being careful not to get the liquid wax too hot.

(High temperatures will burn the flowers.) Quickly dip freshly cut blooms into the wax; then set them on wax paper to harden. The eyecatching waxed flowers, which will last for one to two weeks, look great in table settings or centerpieces.

Copyright Southern Progress Corporation Feb 2007
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