Making Rose Beads

You can make your rosary beads out of rose petals. There are many rose beads recipes; I have used this one I found from the 1600s. Still, I adapted it because the measurements and some of the ingredients were impossible, such as using ambergris from whales I substitute frankincense resin. The rose pulp's texture is the key to not getting it two watery, and at the same time, in the four-day cooking process, I had to add rose hydrosol that I made from my copper still. You can substitute real rose water, which gives you the scent but is affordable to use. These beads are much grainer than some beads used with clay like the Carmelite nuns' roses in Portugal. So here is the measurement. I will do this in a not very linear way, but that's how I work.

Gather a large amount of organically grown deep red roses. All other colors will create a lighter color bead, which does not come out as well. I used an iron pot because this also deepens the color of the bead. It is what the old recipe asked. ( I no longer have the original recipe; I am doing this by memory)

You will need lots of Rose Water, at least two pints, and maybe even more...2 quarts of Red Roses organic! 1/4 oz of resin

of both Benzoin

1/4 of frankincense 

a 1 oz of orris root 

These measurements have to be adjusted to the quality of the rose pulp. Remember this I change the recipe in this way.

It has to be cooked very slowly and always and a (low heat continuously stirring)

On the first day, take one part of rose petals .let say 2 quarts of full rose petals, not using any leaves, place them in an iron pot and add 2 cups of real rosewater. Slowly cook on a low heat stirring all the time. Do this for an hour. If the pulp is too dry and sticking to the bottom, you need to slowly add more rose water. It is done all according to the pulp's texture. If it is too wet, that is ok; you will cook out more moisture the next day.

Let cool and put through a blender. It quickens the process, and it more manageable than the whole mortar and pestle method. The more the petal breaks down, the smoother and easier the bead will be to form. Then refrigerate the pulp cover the pot. It would be best if you didn't want other smells coming into your rose pulp.

The next two days, go through the same process, adding more rose water if needed and stir for another hour, making sure the petals do not burn on the bottom. Then put back into the fridge. Always keep the pulp looking thick like the photo but not too thick.

On the fourth day, you add the dry resins. Look at your rose pulp, and this is how I judge my measurement: One whole part of Rose pulp. Now from there, you add 1/8 part resin of Benzoin and 1/8 part Frankincense. It has to be resin, not essential oils. Because this helps harden the bead so it will last. Then add 1/4 part of powder orris root. It is used to fix the scent of the mixture. If your mix is too dry and sticking to the bottom as you cook, add more rosewater again. What you want to do at this stage of the process is to make sure the resins have melted into the rose pulp. It would be best if you cooked it long enough that it is not watery but thick and pulpy without burning it to the bottom of the pot. It is a crucial part because you will not form a good bead if it is too runny. If it to dry, you burn the mixture and ruin the smell of the whole project. So go slowly and always a low heat. So on the fourth day, you get the mix just right, all the resins completely melted into the pulp, and you then let it cool and form a ball. It would be best if you let the ball sit for a few hours on a breadboard. It will stain the wood. Then go back and slowly make one bead at a time, pressing them together and forming a ball. Make the balls the size of a small marble because they will shrink down a-lot, half their size at least, so go from that point knowing you will have a lot of shrinkage in the drying process. I dried the beads on a very lightly oiled cookie sheet. And let sit in a warm room. I did not place them in the sun.

The drying process depends on the weather also how dry the day is. You want to allow the bead to dry for a few days so the beads stay together but not so dry you cannot easily pierce it with a needle. If you do it too soon, it falls apart. If you do it too late, you cannot pierce it with a needle. Timing is the key here and your weather conditions.

Once they are piece the rose bead with a needle, I place them on a copper wire and gently moved them around each day so the hole would not stick to the bead. Once completely dry, they will be challenging, so I added the resins then; you can use them for your rosary making. It takes a lot of roses to make a full rosary Ok there you have it; a lot of this is what I learned along the way, and I have tried many different recipes over the years, but this was my best.

The photo below shows the pulp's thickness; the second photo shows the ball drying for a few hours. The last image is the bead on the copper wire.

So there you have it, have fun in your process and go slow. Ave Maria.