Diary of a Kitchen Witch

Rose Petal Beads

A couple weekends ago, I decided that I wanted to try and make rose petal beads. I had a beautiful bouquet of red roses from

Sassy Latte

for my birthday. They were on their way out after 3 glorious weeks of having them greet me each morning. Rather than throwing them away, I wanted to try and preserve this symbol of friendship and love by turning them into (prayer) beads.

💖 I just want to take a minute to let you know that this love letter contains affiliate links, and if you make a purchase using the links, I can make a small commission. Thanks a million 💖

I followed this method. What I loved about this project is that I had (or thought I did) everything that I needed. I had water. I had rose petals. I had a machine to smoosh everything up.

I took my beautiful roses (seriously, look at that color!) and with the intention of love and the guidance of Mary. After I lovingly plucked the petals off, I had about 4 cups of petals, and it was time to give them a quick rinse/wash to get rid of any residual pesticides, etc.

The next phase had me losing my marbles. I followed the directions and used a quarter cup of water to 2 cups of rose petals. I didn’t have a mortar-pestle, nor do I have a blender. I thought my little mini Kitchenaid food processor would work. It indeed did not. It takes a lot more water to allow the machine to smoosh up the petals, and the petals still came out too chunky, not smooth enough. I puréed for an hour in hopes that it would get to where I wanted it. It did not, but I tried to continue on anyway.

This was the best I could get. I put it in a pot and reduced the mixture down as much as possible, but I was never able to get the clay like consistency the recipe called for. I’m sure it’s not the recipe’s fault. I am positive that this was user error. Look how stunning the color is though. These would have made some stunning prayer beads.

After simmering, I poured the mixture on a cutting board and spread it out to let it cool a bit. There was still a lot of moisture so I patted it out with some paper towels. Everything was stained with the rose color, but it was so pretty. I tried to form the beads, and I added some anointing oil a friend gave me a few years back. It has a lovely citrus scent, and the intention for the oil is bliss. I was so happy to use it and add scent to my mixture.

I played around with my failed dough for a bit. I gave up when I realized that I just couldn’t get the right consistency. I didn’t throw it away though. I want to try again, and I want to not give up just because I made some mistakes. Perfectionism and fixed mindset are something that I struggle a lot with. I decided to look at this as journey over destination, process over product. This was an experiment and a learning opportunity. There was no reason to beat myself up for failure because was it a failure if something was learned?

I have my mixture still. It’s in a jar dried and ready for me to try again when I have the time and motivation. I was thinking that even if I can’t turn them into beads, I could add them to something like those cornstarch ornaments people are making this year. I also have this idea that maybe not that they’re dry the food processor might work better? I’m not sure.

All I know is that the Pinspiration was a flop, and that’s ok because things were learned, and I was able to slow down enough and stay present enough to enjoy (most of) the process.

What projects have you been working on lately? How are they going for you? Are you a process or product type person? I’d love to hear so leave a comment!

Wishing you well this week! May your life offer what you need in this moment.

With love,

Aventurine ✨