Birthdays, holidays, and other special occasions are made better with fresh flowers. Although we wish they could last forever fresh flowers will wither and die.

Learning how to preserve flowers is a great way to keep those beautiful bouquets lasting longer. It is not terribly difficult, with a bit of time and patience you will have a lasting bouquet for years to come.

To preserve your flowers the only ingredient you need is a bottle of aerosol hairspray. To begin simply gather your flowers and spray with hairspray before they begin to die. If you wait until they die the color will be gone and you can't bring it back.

Next just find a cool, dry and dark place such as a basement or closet and hang the flowers upside down until they dry. It may take a few days to dry but be patient. If you try to arrange them too soon you will damage the flower petals and possible the entire flower. Once they are completely dry you can arrange them in a vase or however you wish. Your flowers will stay beautiful for years to come. Just keep in mind they are very fragile and will break easily when handled.

Another popular method for long lasting flowers is to preserve them by pressing. Using some wax paper or paper towels place flowers in between them and put them in a book. The easiest way is to put more books on top or some thing heavy. The flowers should stay there for a while just remember to check them every few days. After a week or so the flowers will be pressed flat. You can then use them as decoration in picture frames, scrapbooks or albums. You can laminate some of them with a picture from the special occasion and make a beautiful bookmark.

There are so many different ideas to use them in such as when making cement stepping stones for your garden. Cut the bottom 6 inches of a five gallon bucket off. Line the bottom piece you cut away with wax paper, and then pour instant cement into the wax paper. Let it set partway and then sprinkle the flowers onto the cement. Let it dry the rest of the way. When the cement is completely dry take it out of the bucket and peel away the wax paper. Now you have a permanent stepping stone for your garden.

If you do not want to preserve the flowers yourself you can take them to a florist and for a small fee they will do it for you. Any way you choose to preserve your flowers will leave you a lasting treasure to share with future generations.