Roses seem to be the flower of choice in many of life's most precious and sentimental events.
Roses can convey love, peace, friendship, and forgiveness.
It is so sad to see those beautiful roses from our life events turn to dust.
Wouldn't it be special to turn those roses into a permanent and sacred symbol of that event? Rose petals can be crafted into beads for use in rosaries and jewelry.
The craft of making beads from rose petals is unique, and most often practiced by nuns, who used the beads to make rosaries.
Crafting rose petals into beads by hand is a long and laborious task.
It requires great dexterity, attention to detail, and patience.
It involves a long heating process of the rose petals.
The roses are then mashed and dried to a desired consistency.
The paste is then hand-rolled into beads and left to dry.
Much experimentation is needed in order to achieve a specific sized bead.
No matter what color the roses are, all the beads will turn either dark brown or black, due to a chemical reaction in the heating process.
The most wonderful element about these beads is that they are 100% rose petals.
No fixatives or fillers are required.
The beads are extremely durable and can be used in place of any other plastic or glass beads.
They even retain some of their fragrance.
These beads are quite striking when used in a rosary.
I have made many rose petal rosaries from funeral roses for those whom have lost loved ones.
Many people, including myself, have found such peace and comfort in having these rosaries during such a sorrowful time.
However, rose petal rosaries and rose petal jewelry are appropriate for any life event--joyful or sorrowful, or even for no event at all.
Some people just like having a rose petal rosary from their garden roses.