Step Two is all about making the rose petal bead dough smooth
Cooked rose petals before and after blending
Making Rose Beads - Step Two
Author: EM
Ingredients
- 1 batch of rose petals (8-10 flowers), cooked thoroughly (see step one)
- A regular blender or a stick blender (immersion blender)
- Distilled water
- Parchment baking paper
Instructions
- Take the cooked rose petals and put them in a blender (or use a stick blender) adding enough water for the mixture to get thoroughly blended, like a smoothie. It would be hard to blend it too much - but easy not to blend it enough.
- You can see in the picture the difference between the petals before they were blended and after.
- Make sure you're your final "glop" looks glossy and a bit like pudding, with no separate pieces of rose petal in it.
- Put it back in the skillet, and bring to just under a boil, stirring constantly. Simmer the mash until much of the water has evaporated off and the mixture is drier than applesauce. This is an art - you will need to try several times until you get the feeling. If your rose petal sauce is as wet as apple sauce, you will not be able to add much to the clay. It is better to have it dry, like a dry jam, or even like a clay.
- I like to put the dry mash on parchment paper and let it sit in my oven overnight. Since it is a gas oven, the pilot lights keep it ever so slightly warm, and the clay dries out. You can peel it off the parchment paper in the morning.
I am having some success but…I am not able to the water out of my glop. It forms a large like play dough but is really were still. I tried the oven but moisture is still there. What can I do now?
Perhaps you should try leaving them on your very lowest flame on the stove for longer. At this point you can’t really let it sit there without keeping an eye on it. Keep moving the glop around. You will need to be patient – If the edges get dry, you can just fold them into the middle where it is wet. They will become like the rest of the glop again fairly quickly. Mostly what is needed when you dry the glop is patience.
I just finished with step two on 2 batches one red roses and the other one white ones, im so excited to mix it up and mold it in to the beads for my wedding lasso!
Fantastic! Looking forward to seeing a photo…
Hi!
I have a source for never ending rose petals to be pilfered from, lol, and I have a lot of drying and already dried rose petals. I have researched patents, (I have nothing else to do – retired!), and have looked for other’s ways of preserving color. I also know, now, why it is so difficult. So, I am adding Da Vinci watercolors to the final mash. The watercolor lets the dark, velvety texture to show through, with a beautiful color. If I could post pictures, I would. I really enjoy making these.
Anette – What a great idea! I would love to see your photos. I will send you an email, and if you send the photos back I will post them. Thank you so much!
When do you know the beads are ready for the tung oil ?
They have to be very dry. It will depend on time and humidity.
My SO’s Mother used to make these. She didn’t have a blender so she used a mortar and pestle to grind them.
How lovely – that really puts a person’s whole self into them.
I got married last month, so my bouquet is pretty dry. Can I still make the beads with dried roses?
Yes indeed – you will need to add some water to cook the petals anyway. But if you want the full story and all the details, can I recommend that you get the book from Kindle? It has so many more details than what is on this page. It costs about as much as a large latte at Starbucks…
Yes indeed – you will need to add some water to cook the petals anyway. But if you want the full story and all the details, can I recommend that you get the book from Kindle? It has so many more details than what is on this page. It costs about as much as a large latte at Starbucks…
Is your book still $2.99? How much does it cost to ship to AL. Thanks for a quick reply. I just came from my aunts funeral and want to make beads for me and the girls.
Have a great day. I look forward to getting your book.
Hello Doris – I have sent you an email, but I will put it here too. The book is now 3.99, but you won’t have to ship it. The book is a Kindle book, so you can download it instantly. Lots of people don’t have a Kindle, but you don’t need one. You can read the book online by going to this page:
kindle online reader – click here
and following the instructions.
You can also add a Kindle app to your PC or Mac, or cell phone, whichever one you have, and read it any time on your computer or phone. You go to this page, and download the software to actually read it on your computer if you want. I don’t have a Kindle either. I use this:
Computer Kindle Reader which will work very easily on your PC or MAC.
Roses… Can I Do It With Other Flowers Or Just Roses?
Hi Keli – It all depends on the flower. The details on some of the other kinds of flowers are in the book – it’s still only 2.99, and it has ALL the details on that and a lot more, so when you do make your beads, they will come out perfectly.
Is the “clay” made from the roses or is there clay to add to the rose mixture
The clay is made from roses – sometimes I call it clay, sometimes I call it dough. Neither is quite right 😉 I have better techniques in the book that will be coming out on Kindle in the next few weeks. I came up with these methods by myself through lots of experimentation, and I think you will find the book useful. Thank you for asking –
Can you Use food dye for color?
Yes you can. But you have to be careful about how you finish the bead. Can I suggest that you get a copy of the book? It has all the information in it, and is very reasonable. About the same price as a cup of Starbucks. You don’t need a Kindle to read it. You can just install the kindle app on your computer, and have all the information instantly.