Valentine's day is that one day of the year where you can spoil your favorite person all day long just for the heck of it. People show their love for each other in so many ways on Valentine's day. Whether it’s breakfast in bed, a box of chocolates, a piece of jewelry, (or our favorite)... flowers! Wouldn’t it be sweet if you could keep the flowers from your loved one forever?

In my family, my cute dad has a tradition of giving me and my sister a dozen roses every year for Valentines. When I was younger I used to throw them away because they would get wilted and moldy. It honestly hurt my heart because I knew that this was a way of him making us feel special. I began looking for another way to preserve them and figured out I could hang dry them! So, for the past few years that's what I would do in hopes to keep them for a while longer.

However, a dried bouquet doesn’t travel well and still being in college means I’m constantly bouncing around to multiple different apartments. Every time I would move the bouquet, the flowers would begin to crumble and break, making a mess everywhere. Eventually the blossoms became less and less and another one of my special arrangements would end up in the trash.

Since working at Pressed Floral, I learned about a little thing called a shadow box! A shadow box allows you to preserve your already dried bouquet. The flowers are arranged and secured in a glass box which prevents your flowers from getting knocked around. The fragile blossoms remain in their perfect form and you aren't left with a mess everytime you move them from one place to another.

Every year from now on I plan to take a single rose from each Valentine's bouquet and add it into my shadow box. I am so excited to see the arrangement grow, throughout the coming years. It means so much to me to be able to keep a piece of this tradition with my dad, and be able to be reminded of the memories that came along with it.

If you didn't know about us at the time you received a special arrangement from your loved one, and your flowers are looking more frail rather than fresh, we can make the most of it. Just because your bouquet isn't pressed doesn't mean it can't be perfect. Take a look at these beauties!