Get crafty with those Roses

Did you receive a bunch of roses for Valentines Day that are on their last leg? Or maybe you bought some for yourself, because they are on sale after the holiday, like me. After you have had them as your centerpiece as long as the petals let you, try putting them to use! Below I have a couple of ideas for using up roses.

Rose Petal Beads

Materials: fresh rose petals, about 5 cups 

Water

Rose essential oil

Wooden spoon

Blender

Toothpicks

1. Collect 5 cups of rose petals, get rid of any dry wilted ones. Add 1/4 cup of water and 2 cups of petals to the blender and chop, until the paste is fine and like clay. Put it in a bowl on the side and chop the rest of the petals with two tablespoons of water for every cup of petals. (If there is a lot of extra water soak it up with a paper towel.) Add the mixture together in the bowl.

2. Put a bit of rose oil on your fingers and roll a small portion of the mixture into a marble sized ball. Poke a toothpick through the center of the ball to form a hole and leave the toothpick in the ball.  Let the beads to dry 3-5 days, or until hard. 

3. Remove the toothpicks and allow a couple more days to dry. String the beads to make any jewlery you'd like. 

Rose Water (DIY Rose Perfume) 

Materials: cup of fragrant rose petals 

2 cups Filtered water

Glass bowl with cover

Cotton gauze or strainer

Glass jar or spray bottle for storing 

1. Boil the filtered water and add to the rose petals in the glass bowl. 

2. Cover the bowl and let it sit fir 30 minutes. Strain the petals out of the water into the jar or spray bottle. Ready for use. Cover and refrigerate up to three weeks. 

(Stemmed from the book Crafting Fun By Rae Grant )

If you don't have time to do either of these crafts in time, simply tie a string around the roses and dry them. Because then you can craft with them when you have time. Like making rose petal soaps, or bath salts, or maybe even using in baking. 

Flowers are so beautiful, so I'm always wanting to find more way to use them. If you have more ideas, please share.