Rose Beads and Red Thread

June roses are so magical and I love those with old fashioned fragrance! 

Since my teen years, I've been making rose beads, you can read about my adventures here, and here. 

For yesterday's Red Thread Circle I led a group of 6 SiStars through the process, and everyone went home with at least a dozen beads in an egg carton! 

One SiStar shared a necklace she made when her son was young, strung with beads she'd made wrapping the petals around a toothpick, saying a prayer/wish for him as she wrapped each one. 

I have 5 fragrant roses: an old Moss from a pioneer cemetery, my family dark pink rose, a

Fragrant fresh rose petals

variegated   Rosa Mundi, with pink stripes on white, and two David Austin roses (Gertrude Jekell and Jude the Obscure) 

With the abundance of fresh petals, I gather petals daily, simply pulling loose petals off the centers, leaving the hips to develop. 

I filled my crockpot nearly to the brim, and added a splash of rose tea. I kept the spices simple, Garam Masala and some extra cinnamon, and began simmering three days before our gathering.

Rose tea : rose petals, rose geranium leaves, lemon verbena, yarrow and lavender, steeped in my little French press.

I'd turn the crock pot on, stir a bit, and leave it at the lowest setting for an hour. I did that a couple of times the first two days, adding a splash of liquid as needed. Late the second day, I ran then through my food processor, and returned the mash to the crockpot, heating and cooling again. Since many of the petals were pale, and the crock pot ceramic, the mash stayed pale. Using darker petals and exposure to iron makes darker mask and beads.

Rose petal mash after grinding

We had a delightful circle, with 4 of the 6 gals traveling 20 - 45 minutes to join us! One wore a necklace she'd made with beads filled with prayers and wishes for her son (now a teen!) She'd simple rolled petals around a toothpick! We each passed our necklace around the circle before beginning to craft the beads.

I brought fresh raspberries and strawberries (both in the rose family!) And two sun teas - one raspberry leaf with yarrow and lemon verbena from my yard, the other a ginger mango white tea. The chocolate was a delicious Honey Mamma bar, with rose petals and lavender! 

I brought shallow cups for our handful of mash (squeezing the juice back into the crockpot). We filled our cups, chatted while rolling our beads, and had plates for the finished beads. They will shrink as they dry, so make them about twice as big as you'd like them. (More details on the process here)

When we finished, we each had 1-2 dozen beads, and took then home in an egg carton or

A carton of Rose Beads

two!  Give the egg carton a shake to keep the beads from sticking, and pierce holes the next day. After our circle,  several of us went to a favorite restaurant, and then on to a drumming circle! What a lovely way to compete the day! 

When I got home, there was about 1/2 C of liquid with bits of mash in my crockpot, so I gathered a last round of fresh petals, and added them to the pot. Then got out a couple of jars of dried roses and petals, and separated petals from the stems and other pieces. 

Grinding dry petals: I fill the hopper of my seed mill, add a sprinkle of powdered Garam Masala and cinnamon, and whizz several times, then dump the powder into the top, and refill the hopper with whole petals, tip in the powder and grind again. I do that a couple of times, which makes for a finer grind! (I'm always learning!) 

- This was added to the pot, plus some more liquid, and heated (I may have left the crockpot on the warm setting all night, oops!! Could smell them in the morning - mmm!) So sometime today/this weekend I'll  grind them, then roll more beads!! I can think of worse things to do! 

Lastly, here's a sweet video Jodi shared with us - I love the way this Harper/ fairy women sings while rolling the beads! I'm a Harper as well, and the pale yellowish rose at the beginning looks like my Jude the Obscure (one of the Austin roses) 
If you are inspired to try it now - here is a tutorial on making 4-5 beads using a couple of dried roses! (Neither of these gals simmer their petals!) 

Jude the Obscure

Do you have a favorite memory/ use of summer roses?

Happy paint party Friday!!