Making Rose Beads

First thing to do is collect the rose petals in a brown paper bag so
they  don't get crushed. Optimum time is in the morning just after the
dew has  dried. I guess early evening wouldn't hurt either but I don't
know about  that. You can use petals that have dropped on the ground,
i.e. after a rose  has 'exploded' as my kids say, but don't use any
brown edges of the petals.  I just snip these off with scissors.

Second, the way I used to do this was with mortar and pestle but now I
use  a mini chopper. Take the rose petals, you can mix colors as they
are all  going to turn to a dark shade of ebony anyway and you can mix
scents too if  they are compatible, and put them in the chopper dish and
chop until very  fine. Take out that bunch and put in a glass jar and
continue chopping the  rest of the petals a dish full at a time. Put
them all in a glass jar and  cover loosely.

Third, the next day you can chop more fresh or slightly fresh petals
then  add them to what is in the jar and process the whole bunch again.
Continue  doing this for the next few days until you get at least a cup
of rose petal  paste. Then start the process over with a new jar. This
takes a lot of  paste.

Fourth, once you've got the paste to the consistency of playdough take a
small amount and roll it in your hands to make a ball the size of a
green  pea. For this step you will also need a large sheet of cardboard,
I cut up  sides of cartons from grocery store, and some rustproof
straight pins. Once  you have made the 'pea' stick a straight pin
through it and stick this into  the cardboard but don't let the bead
touch the cardboard.

Fifth, put them in an out of the way place as they have to dry until
hard.  This time varies depending on the amount of humidity in the air
but we have  AC in the summer so it is usually no longer than 3 or 4
days for me.  Sixth, once they have dried polish them with a soft
lintfree cloth, actually I have found that baby diapers work well, until
they have a lustrous shine.  They will be dark, depending on the color
of the petals some are very black  and some are a little shade of black
but I have always mixed my Duets,  (very pink) Don Juans, (very red),
and some smelly yellow ones that I don't  remember the name of.
Lastly, I use beading thread and a small eyed needle and string them in
long enough strands to go over a head, as I make them for different
people,  knot the thread well, put a small dab of hot glue on the knot
and you are  off and running. Every once in a while I polish them up
with another rub  with a cloth, perhaps once or twice a year, and when
you wear these in the  summer months the fragrance of roses is pretty
strong, not like being doused with perfume but you can tell they are
there.  My girlfriend's grandmother got some made by her mother when she
was a girl  of 7 or 8, she is now 92, and you can still smell the
fragrance of the  roses.

A wonderful side benefit is that as you are making the paste your
kitchen  will smell like roses for most of the day until you cook
something with a  strong odor.