Rubber Rabbit's Rose Beads

Finished Rose Beads

The origins of rose bead recipes are obscure. It is known that beads made of rose petals existed in Roman times, and by the Middle Ages, they were quite common. The rose was a symbol of the Christian faith: the five petals of the hedge rose stood for the wounds of Christ, the red rose was for the blood of the martyrs and the white rose was the symbol of the Virgin Mary. The word rosary comes from the word rose and, in fact, the beads were often used in rosaries.

The process for making rose beads can be very lengthy; involving days of slow simmering and careful tending. I have chosen to tell you a shorter, but still traditional, method for making rose beads.

First a note: If you have sprayed your roses, you MUST NOT use any implements that you usually use around food (don't even use your kitchen counter!). You don't want to poison yourself or your family!

You will need a LOT of rose petals; the more fragrant the better. Gather them on a dry day when they are at their peak of scent. Pick ONLY the petals: no green parts and none of the centers. Make sure they are clean and free of any dust or dirt.
Chop them finely (if you are using a knife, you want them minced; if you use a food processor, stop before you turn it into a liquid!).
Put them into a cast iron pan (you can use a regular pan, but the iron helps them change to black) and add just enough water to moisten the petals. My basic recipe was sixteen cups of firmly packed rose petals (before mincing) and a half cup of water. Simmer this mixture (never let it boil) until it reduces (it might take several hours if your mix is very wet) to a clay-like consistency. At this point, you can form them into beads.
Make them about twice the size you want the finished product to be because they shrink by almost half.
Lay them in a parchment lined pan and begin to dry them in your oven (set at the lowest possible temperature). Watch them carefully, as they dry, they will begin to shrink and get much firmer to the touch. This may take a couple of hours. When they feel very firm, you can use a needle tool to drill a hole through them (if you skip this part, you can also drill a hole with a Dremel tool or bead reamer after they are dry!). Be prepared to lose some beads due to breakage in this process.
When they are completely dry, they will be very hard and almost black in color. They might also be a bit rough. But when you hold them in your hand, the heat of your hand will release the scent.

Have fun with this very old craft!