I decided to research this project after a good friends son had passed away. She had sent all of his rose petals from the funeral to a company to make necklaces for herself and the family. After my brother-in-law passed away too early shortly after, I decided to make beads for my sister and their children. My sisters necklace was made from the last roses he gave her on Valentines day and the other necklaces I made were from the funeral roses. To make the rose beads: 1. Have patience! Take all of the petals off the bud and clip away the hard pointed bottom of the petals. I then froze the petals as I had so many and didn't want anything to happen to them. I made several batched before I got the hang of it. One dozen roses makes about 12-15 beads. 2. When ready to cook them I placed the frozen petals into a small sauce pan and covered with water. I let the petals simmer for a few hours adding water when it started to evaporate. MAKE SURE TO NOT BURN THE PETALS!! 3. After a few hours I let them cool and placed int o the refrigerator over night and simmered them again the next day doing the same with the water- adding as needed. Once the petals started to disinigrate, I placed the mixture into a blender and blended well. I placed the mixture back into the sauce pan adding an iron nail which produced the black coloring of the bead and simmered away again off and on for a few more days, while blending them once more. 4. After the last blending, I placed the mixture back into the sauce pan, this time NOT adding any more water. I watched the pan as it continued to slow simmer and the water begain to evaporate. Stirring occasionally as I didn't want it to burn which will ruin the bead. Once the mixture turned into a putty I allowed it to cool slightly and rolled it into small balls about twice the size of what I wanted the beads to be (they reduce in size by at least half) 5. Place the beads on a cookie sheet and begin to dry. I would roll the beads in the pan periodically to reduce the chance of a flat side forming on the beads. After about 2 days the beads will be hard enough on the outside to string onto pins. I used thicker quilting and/or upholstry pins and was able to string about three per pin. Everyday for about a week or two I turned the beads around the pin post to reduce them from sticking and allowed them to dry in a cool dry place. 6. Once they were dry, I beaded:) They say as you wear teh beads, teh rose sent comes out again. I purchased rose oil as well incase this didn't happen. So far it seems to be true. These beads can't get wet, but if they do, just reform and redry again.I decided to research this project after a good friends son had passed away. She had sent all of his rose petals from the funeral to a company to make necklaces for herself and the family. After my brother-in-law passed away too early shortly after, I decided to make beads for my sister and their children. My sisters necklace was made from the last roses he gave her on Valentines day and the ... Read full instructions »Difficulty:
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