I have seen a lot of people use dried flowers as bushes or yes, even as flowers in dioramas. I want to try this too, but my concern is that they will turn brown and fall apart quickly. Has anyone tried painted these, and does that increase their shelf-life?

Any assistance would be appreciated! ...my girlfriend has a bunch of dried flowers ready to be tossed, so I need to grab them now if I'm going to use em.

Thanks!

Hello, I have done a lot with flowers in dios. My favorite ones to use are babysbreath which you can get fresh or as dried flowers at a craft store. I prefer to use the dried ones to start, I usually try to find a light color of these as they are usually dyed and dye them with printers inks or thinned acrylic paints. I have never had any problem with them falling apart. Also try things like dried candytuft... just have a look thru the dried flower section and you will find lots of things that will be useful in 1/35th. Some dried flowers can even be painted green and used for bushes. I hope this helps. Cheers Kevin

Kevin has pretty much covered it. As an additional note and while it may seem obvious, dried flowers used should well, be truly dried. So you wouldn't have to worry about them turning brown Steve-O coz most of them are brown to begin with unless you got fresh ones which will then have to be dried first. Just hang upside down in a airy place away from sunlight for a week or so.

Not all plants dry well without being brittle though. Some better than others and even manage to retain some of their color.