crafts

Rose Petal Beads DIY

by
Dried rose petals

I’ve wanted to make beads from rose petals for years but for one reason or another, I just never got around to it. Now seemed like the right time to fulfill my hankering for this particular craft after I recently read a blurb about Canadian scientists publishing research linking heart health and mental/emotional wellness. This news reminded me of the organization, Heartmath, which has been studying this very concept for years, with guidelines, apps, and products of its own. The connection between the heart and emotions has long been intuitively understood, with hearts being the most recognizable and universal symbol of love in the world, and anyone who has suffered a break-up or loss can attest to the very real chest pain that ensues. Just as there is a connection between the gut and mental and emotional health, the same is true for the heart, as the Ottawa Heart Institute has recently scientifically confirmed.

What does this have to do with rose petal beads?

Roses are not only the romantics of the plant world, they also have a long history of being traditionally connected to heart health, overall cardiovascular health, supporting aging, and emotional support especially concerning grief and depression. There are traditional uses beyond health that focus on connecting the earthly to the ethereal, most often seen in religious contexts. In the ancient days of gods and goddesses, rose garlands were often put on goddesses’ statues to honor them. In A.D. times, when Mary, Jesus’ mother, took the place of the former goddesses, her statues were the ones graced with rose garlands. These garlands eventually turned into prayer beads which have been part of religious practices since at least ancient Buddhism and Hinduism, but in the Catholic church they are known as a rosary. The rose petal rosaries are therefore the most common use of rose petal beads, but they can and are used in other forms of jewelry and crafts.

How to:

Starting with fresh rose petals is ideal, and if you can gather them in the morning they’ll retain the most scent. I only have dried rose petals right now so that’s what I’m using. To start with dry petals, rehydrate them by soaking them in water for about an hour. Next, drain them, then add them to a blender with a small amount of water to make a paste. I’m starting with 2 cups of petals, and will add 1/4 cup of water at a time. Fresh petals do not need to soak, only rinsed, then put them into the blender with the same proportions of 2 cups petals to 1/4 cup water to start. Add more water as necessary to make a paste. (The traditional method is to use a mortar and pestle instead of an electric blender, but I’ve never been proficient with that particular tool myself. Feel free to get your arm workout in though if that suits you better!)

Step 2

After the mixture is a paste-y consistency, warm it up on the stove to get some of the excess water out. This is also a good time to work the mixture with a wooden spoon a bit more, and if using cast iron, the mixture resulting beads will turn out darker than any other pot or pan material. The goal is just to get excess moisture to evaporate, not to cook the roses at all because then the scent will dissipate before making it into the finished product, which would be quite a shame.

Step 3

Let the mixture cool a few minutes in order to be able to handle holding small amounts and rolling into balls. Keep in mind that the balls will shrink as they dry, so aim to make them twice as big as you actually want them to be when they are finished. If you are planning on threading them, it’s important to go ahead and create a hole by poking through a needle. Since the balls shrink, so will the holes, so making a bigger hole than you expect to need is important, and you can even dry them with needles or thread stuck through them to prevent the holes from closing. While the beads dry, be sure to rotate them around the string or needle to keep them from melding together.

Step 4

Place them on a towel to dry in a place where they can remain for about a week, depending on how much water you were able to get out during the warming on the stove step. Be sure to turn them a couple of times every day so they dry evenly and without flat spots.

That’s it!

Now you can make them into earrings, necklaces, bracelets, rosaries or other prayer beads, or anything else that you want to do with them. Some other home ideas would be to string together a small number of them to place into drawers for scenting, keep some around for adding to ribbons around gifts, or place them in bowls to set out to subtly scent rooms. Let me know what you make if you try this! (My beads are still drying so I’ll update this post with pictures once they are completely dry and ready to use.)

Last Thoughts

Mother’s Day is approaching so it just might be the perfect time to create something unique with rose petals, or if you are getting married soon or have bouquet for another reason, a beautiful way to keep those flowers around forever is to make beads from them. Scent, after all, has the most direct route to the memory part of the brain so that would be such a lovely way to spark memories of a special day.

May your spring be full of flowers and your days sweetly scented🌹.

**I am affiliated with Mountain Rose Herbs and could earn a small commission on links to MRH. This does not affect what I share or promote.**

Earth Day 2020 (April 22, 2020)

by

Happy 50th Earth Day! Check out the official website for Earth Day which lists activities all around the world: https://www.earthday.org/earth-day-2020/. Considering these are pretty much all online activities, you don’t have to just look at the activities nearest you which is a bonus. (There’s an interactive map on that homepage if you scroll down.) I am happy the environment has at least gotten a break during this strange time and I am uplifted by the reports of cleared pollution and thriving wildlife. Whatever we return to in terms of ‘normalcy’ surely will be imprinted with very visible proof that we humans impact the environment in very real, very immediate and long term ways. We can exist without such harsh impacts, and that should be foremost in our collective minds as we co-create our futures and design our world.

Here’s a little Earth Day activity if you are so inclined. Mandalas have many different uses and meanings, but one which I really like is that they symbolize connection of self to the greater whole. Mandalas made with found nature items can be made outside and are a gift to the maker who gets to enjoy the artistic pursuit and touch nature’s many gifts, but also anyone who happens upon the surprise mandala gets an aesthetic thrill as well. To do this, you want to gather some materials like pine cones, flower petals, leaves, stems, even cut grass, and arrange them so that each quadrant is the same as the other three quadrants. So for example, if you have two flower petals with a pine cone in one quadrant, you do the exact same thing three more times in a circle, and there is your mandala. Here are some examples from Bing: https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=natura+mandala&FORM=HDRSC2. This is a great kids’ activity and is a way for little artists to be creative in public spaces, just be sure to explain that they must use materials that are already on the ground, otherwise they might be popping off flower tops all over the place.

When I gave a class to middle school students, I had them make a mandala from dried herbs and you can do this too with ingredients right in your spice drawer. My emphasis was explaining that different parts of plants are used in culinary and medicinal ways, so I had them start off with the seed pod star anise as the center pieces. Then we used seeds, I believe I used fennel but you can use poppy or sesame seeds if you have those as well, or any seeds you might be intending to plant in your garden soon. Next were roots and for that I used astragalus roots, but your spice cabinet might be thin on actual roots, so using rhizomes instead of roots such as ginger or turmeric (Be careful! It stains!) powder might work, or just draw some roots and make it a mixed media project. Then we used stems and leaves, so bay leaves worked nicely with some rosemary leaves as well. next were flower petals which I happen to have plenty of but this might be harder at home. I used dried rose petals and calendula tops, but if you are lucky enough to have blooming flowers, even dandelion tops around, use those. If you are just making this outside, it doesn’t matter if you are mixing fresh and dried materials, but of course if you are doing this inside in order to keep it, then you will need to use dried materials only. Next for fruits I used dried rosehips, but you can use cloves or peppercorns instead. Don’t forget that we use bark too! Cinnamon comes from bark and I happened to have pau d’arco bark as well, so we used that, but cinnamon sticks can add great character and definitely awesome smells. You can use anything that you find in your herb and spice cabinet really and just have fun making something for Earth Day or any day you need something new to do with your at-home-24/7-kiddos. If you want something more permanent, you can try gluing the dried materials on cardboard, but it’s going to be precarious. I used old photo book pages, the kind with sticky backs and a clear plastic overlay, and glue, with the students I worked with. They glued the dried herbs on the sticky page, the put the plastic cover back on it and taped that down. It seemed pretty secure that way but unfortunately wasteful. Here are a few of those:

These really aren’t necessary to keep, it’s just a way to get in touch with the natural gifts around us and use our creative minds to have an artistic experience which we all crave, every single one of us. If you make a nature or herbal mandala, please send me a pic via my contact me page or in the comments, or tag me on instagram (@blossomherbs)~ I’d LOVE to see it!

Enjoy your Earth Day and be sure to send her some love and gratitude for all she does!   X🌎X🌍X🌏

DIY Holiday Gifts

by

Since there is so much gifting this time of year, I wanted to share two more recipes from Aura Cacia that seem like nice, simple luxuries to share this time of year. I’m working on a writing project so my posts here might be more infrequent than usual, but I’ll still be checking in and you will be the firsts to know more about what I’m up to when the time is right. For now, here are two bath and body recipes to get you through the holiday season, either through gifting or using yourself. The first is a peppermint foot soak for those that are on their feet all day, athletes, dancers, or anyone that gets tired, achy feet and legs. Peppermint is the go-to herb and essential oil for tired feet and legs and this soak is guaranteed to make your tootsies tingle in the best possible way.

Peppermint Foot Soak (recipe from Aura Cacia)

Ingredients:

4 Tbs sea salt

4 Tbs baking soda

16 drops peppermint essential oil

16 drops tea tree essential oil

16 drops tangerine (or Sweet Orange) essential oil

4 oz. wide mouth amber glass jar

Directions:

  1. Measure sea salt, baking soda and essential oils into a small bowl and mix until blended. Sotre in an airtight container.
  2.  To use, measure 1 to 2 Tbs into a basin, fill with hot wather and soak feet until water cools. Rince and towel dry.

The second recipe is for a fizzy bath powder which is easier to make than it sounds. The citric acid granules combined with the baking soda is what creates the fizziness. These can be fun for tweens and teens to make their friends, although anyone can enjoy this scent. If mixing a citrus aroma with lavender sounds strange to you as it did me at first, try it! You will be surprised at how well they blend together and if you are looking to shed a few pounds, lavender and grapefruit or lavender and sweet orange are actually great combinations because they relax while also being uplifting and energizing. And we all know that anxiety and stress = cortisol = weight gain so relaxing is just as key as the uplifting/energizing part.

Grapefruit and Lavender Fizzy Bath Powder (Aura Cacia’s recipe)

Ingredients:

1/4 cup baking soda

2 Tbs sea salt

2 Tbs citric acid granules (you can find these at well-stocked natural foods stores like Whole Foods, usually in the bulk bins section, or craft stores, or online)

24 drops grapefruit essential oil

24 drops lavender essential oil

4 oz. wide mouth amber glass jar

Directions:

  1. Measure baking soda, salt, citric acid and essential oils into jar, replace lid and shake until well mixed.
  2.  To use, add up to 1.4 cup to bath water.

As always, be sure to label everything and write down what you did because if you are like me you will surely deviate from the recipes a bit and you will want a record of what you did and if you liked it. I’ve been thinking recently about how families pass on their food recipes and how if you are a crafter you should really pass down your craft recipes as well. With herbs and essential oils, these materials have been around for all our ancestors before us, and will be around (hopefully) for generations after us and how amazing would it be for your great great grandkids to be able to make the same scented body oils or bath salts that you did…? So if for no other reason, make sure you write down those recipes because your descendents need heirloom, family history, herbal knowledge. Pass it down and pass it on.

XOXOXO

 

 

Valentine’s Day Herbal Gifts

by

Homemade gifts made with heart and intention are perfect for the holiday that celebrates love. Valentine’s Day is a warm reminder during this cold season that love should be celebrated fully and joyfully in all its forms, from friendship to family, and of course that special someone. Everyone can appreciate an herbal gift that conveys not only love, but also health, beauty, and green thoughtfulness.

WP_20180307_10_29_27_Pro

What plant could be more associated with Valentine’s than the rose? A flower of beauty that signifies love, it also has healing attributes that qualify it as an herb. Drinking rose petal tea is relaxing, due to its mildly sedative properties, and it also has some historical use as a headache reliever. The petals are used extensively for skin health, anti-aging, and beautification, while rose hips are full of bio-available vitamin C. Rose oil makes a lovely base for a massage or bath oil, and bath salts with rose petals would make a relaxing gift that encourages self-care and rejuvenation. Baths full of rose petals are picturesque and you will see plenty on Instagram, but if you don’t want to clean up wet petals after a restful bath, I suggest packing them in a muslin bag. You get all the benefits without worrying about the messy clean-up afterwards. The proportion of salts to rose petals is completely up to you, but if you want to add essential oils to the mixture, keep the essential oils down to about 10-20 drops per cup of mixture. Example: 1 cup Dead Sea Salt, 1/2 cup rose petals, 15 drops of lavender oil, and 10 drops of rose absolute in jojoba. Mix all together in a bowl before adding to a jar with a tight cap for gifting. Don’t forget to add the reusable muslin bag inside the jar, or tie it on the outside. 

Making a rose petal mask is another lovely way to gift roses and encourage self-care. Make a powder from dried rose petals either by using a mortar and pestle or a food processor. I actually use an old coffee grinder for making herbal powders and it works great. Mix the rose powder with either French Green Clay or another clay that suits the skin of your recipient (or yourself if this is a self-love gift) in the proportion of 1/3 rose powder, 2/3 clay. Example: 1 tablespoon rose powder mixed with 2 tablespoons clay. Store in a dark glass jar and mix one tablespoon at a time with either a water, a hydrosol, honey, or yogurt to apply. Actually, adding the powder mix to any of these one ingredient masks will make a multifaceted concoction, and you can choose if you want more of a firming, brightening, or evening out action. Leave on for 10-15 minutes, then rinse off with warm water. Skin will be moisturized, clean, firmer, and more even-toned.

Making a massage oil out of rose oil is as easy as adding the desired essential oils to the homemade rose oil. Aim for no more than 50-60 drops of essential oil per cup of base oil. You can also add in more base oils to the rose oil, so the mixture is more suited to the recipient’s particular skin. The heavier the oil, the more appropriate for dryer skin, and the lighter oils are more beneficial for oilier skin. Massage oil should not soak into the skin but rather allow for easy gliding, so sticking with sweet almond oil, avocado oil, apricot kernel oil, and grapeseed oil are good choices, especially when mixed together. Here’s a sample recipe including the aphrodisiac scents of rose, vanilla, and jasmine:

Massage Oil

F8F80BD2-C5DE-4ED5-9AA9-B901B2DDFC5B[1]
Making Massage Oil
1/2 cup Rose Oil (olive oil infusion)

1/2 cup Vanilla Oil (sweet almond infusion)

1/4 cup Avocado Oil

1/4 cup Apricot Kernel Oil

30 drops Sandalwood absolute in jojoba

40 drops Vanilla CO2 essential oil

5 drops Jasmine absolute in jojoba

 

I hope your Valentine’s day is full of love for your family, your friends, your partner, and yourself. We are experiencing the most snow in most of our lifetimes here in the Seattle region right now so I’ll be herbal crafting away happily this week. I also managed to make my first sourdough loaf this past weekend and it turned out splendidly! There’s a pic on my Instagram if you are interested.

Thank you for reading and Happy Valentine’s Day!

 

 

 

How to Make an Herbal Oil Part 2

by

Herbal oils are one thing that are not easy to find ready-made. They are instead extremely easy to make though, and once you have an oil ready, it can be made into massage or body oil, an all natural perfume, balm, salve, or butter. You can even just use it straight as a healing moisturizer and it makes a lovely gift. (Valentine’s day is just around the corner!) Adding some rose buds or petals back into a bottle of rose oil makes for an extra special gift presentation. If you missed the beginning of the process, you will find it here. This method is called the cold method and is very similar to making an herbal tincture.

Please subscribe for weekly posts about herbs, natural health, and green beauty, and please share this with anyone who might be interested.