Making beads from rose petals! Tutorial included!

[BigMamaBird]

I'm with phnxreign99 on this one.

I made up a batch of these with my Valentine's roses and only got a "cooked veggie" smell, not bad, just not roses.   They're still drying and I love them, but do you think it would hurt them to rub on some essential oil or something?  Has anyone tried that?  If so, should I do it during the drying process or after?

Wonderful idea!!  Thank you so much for posting this.

[sallyb]

I don't see any reason why you couldn't rub rose oil on them now.  I think it would work fine!  Please post up how they turn out!

[phnxreign99]

sallyb - I send you props for your mad bead rolling skills!  Having tried to turn my rose pulp into beads, I now know it is not as simple as you make it look!  We certainly haven't trashed the idea yet ... I'm waiting til they are good and dry and we are going to try to sand them like someone mentioned.  But our's look alot like ... small animal poop!  My daughter keeps walking past them and mentioning that they are the ugliest things she's ever seen before!  But, damn it ... they will be beads ... and they will be made into something.  Ugly or not!

[tiing]

wow i had never thought of that but i am sooooo trying it this summer - i am soooo stoked to do this! thanx for sharing!!!

[thecraftyminx]

This is an amazing idea, thanks for sharing

[sdanorth]

Thinking about the person who said they had a spice bead recipe... I wonder how it would turn out if you mix in some cinnamon and clove, etc. (at the end? after your last simmer?) That is, if your roses were not smelliferous on their own. And, I'm eyeballing my gigantic rosemary bush...

[Voguee]

This is a great idea, but how well do they last?

[sallyb]

There have been several people who have said that they have inherited rose beads from a grandmother or other such significant person and that the beads are still smelling sweet!  That was one reason why I thought this would be such a cool project to make.  They last for years!

[shewolf]

I made some of these in what I had - a nonstick pot.

Yeah, they turned black. And smelled like cabbage. But they worked up beautifully! I used some wire my hubby had (standard electronics wire with plastic on it) to hold them to dry. They don't smell pretty, but that's because of the pot I used.

Dozen roses yielded about 25 beads. I made some different sizes so I could have a necklace that went from little to a large central cross hanging. I don't have it made yet, because my 3 year old found my bead board -.- So far I've found 19 beads.....

[Jorie]

this looks really cool. Love to try it with my lilacs in the summer. This may seem like a silly question but do start off with dry petals or fresh ones?