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12/17/2015

Petal Power- Rose crafts

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​If you are keen on vintage styling then consider growing roses. With so many varieties there is bound to be one to suit every taste and every size garden.   This year I have appreciated the lovely roses  growing in the garden of our rented house. I have enjoyed picking them and using them for my vintage styling projects and it’s nice  to gaze out my window and catch a glimpse of the lovey blooms.  I’m unsure if it’s the time of year, or the climate in Geelong but whenever I am out walking I keep seeing beautiful  roses everywhere. When I think I have found  the prettiest I  find a new type and a new favorite. 
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The  problem with  roses is that the flowers don’t last long. Wanting to do something useful with the spent blooms I recently collected them up and oven dried the petals.  

​The method was simple, all I did was heat my fan forced oven to 100 degrees, line some baking trays and spread the petals out on them, I then placed the trays in the oven with a tea-towel in the door to let the moisture escape.

​Besides the rose petals I experimented with lavender, pansies, ornamental plum leaves, and even some little daisies (which were growing on a neighbours lawn). I also made some very cute orange peel curls. I left the trays in the oven for around 20-30 minutes, but basically I just hang around in the kitchen and shuffled the petals around every now and then  and removed them when they were crispy.   ​

I may  have  gone a  little  over board  with  the  rose petal production. There is a public rose garden a few streets away  so went for a walk with some plastic bags and came home with even more petals. What I didn't realise util I got home was that the roses were full of bugs, so I had to spend quite a while outside separating the petals from the bugs. I think I released a few hundred ladybugs, earwigs and  beetles along with a handful of little spiders.  (If you  are  squeamish  about  bugs  then  maybe  this  isn't  a  hobby  for  you.)
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Rose petal crafts

Apart  from  using  the  petals  for  potpourri  you  can turn  your  dried  petals  into  beauty  products,  which  make  great gifts  or  can  be  used  for  fundraising  projects.  I  made  several  batches  of  rose petal and lavender sugar  scrub  and   bath  salts.  

Rose Petal Bath Salts

  • 1 cup dried rose petals  (or  dried  lavender )
  • 3-5 drops of essential oil 
  • 1 cup Epsom salts
  • 1/3 cup baking soda
  • 2/3 cup powdered milk
 (If  you  a  making  a  large  batch  you  can  add some  sugar to  your  mix  to  make  it  go  further )

​Rose Petal Sugar Scurb

  • 1 cup of dried rose petals   (or  dried  lavender )
  • 2 cups of sugar
  •  1 cup of  coconut oil   (note  the  coconut  oil  can  have  a strong  fragrance,  if  you  want  to  avoid  this  you    might  want  to  use  a  filtered    oil)
  •  6-8 drops of essential oil for fragrance    (you  might   need to  add  more oil  to  balance  the  coconut  fragrance if you  use  an  unfilterd  oil) 
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 I  bought  some  little  plastic  bags  on  ebay  and  designed  and printed  labels  using  Vistaprint,  then  I  packaged up  some of the rose sugar scrub. I donated a box of these to my sons school fundraiser and saved some to give  as Christmas gifts. The little packs are a great size for putting in a stockings or for sending in a Christmas card. (note I found that the coconut oil in the sugar scrub, made some marks on the labels.)

​I also bought some plastic jars on ebay. (I do recommend reusing jars that you have at home, but I didn't have any at the time.) Using Vistaprint  once  again, this  time  I   made sticker labels.  To  finish off the  jars  I  tied  some  bows  and  used  a glue gun  to  attach them  the lids. ​

Dried flower Christmas baubles 

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I  ordered  some  clear plastic   Christmas   baubles  on  ebay, filled them  with  dried  petals  and  attached    ribbon  for  a  very  pretty  result.  

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