HERB - Re: Rose Beads

[LyAngharad@aol.com]

Here is a recipe for Rose Beads, found among my grandparent's things, written 
circa 1910-1920:

"If you want just one strand of beads, gather about 1 gallon of petals -- red 
ones preferred, as they make darker beads.

Grind them 9 or 10 times through a food chopper.  Then spread them out in an 
iron bread pan.  This makes them turn black.  And every time you pass, stir 
them to make the color even.  Grind them several times a day from four to six 
days, when they will become perfectly black, and about the consistency of 
putty.

Mould (sic) them into balls about twice the size you want the finished beads. 
 String them on hat pins to dry.  Do not put them in the sun as that will 
make them crack.

When perfectly dry, polish them with olive oil and string with two or three 
gold beads between each rose bead.  These will retain their fragrance if kept 
in a closed box.

Sometimes 1/4 teaspoon of copper [sulfate?] as dissolved in a tablespoonful 
of water is added to each cup of rose pulp to make it blacker.  Add this 
before spreading in the pan.

To give the beads a stronger fragrance, cut a little oil of rose with alcohol 
and after they have been polished with olive oil, drop some of the perfume on 
the beads and rub briskly between the hands.

If the pulp is too soft, let dry out a little before trying to form into 
beads.  If too dry to work well, moisten with water."

Haven't actually tried it, but do have some of the beads my grandmother made, 
MANY years ago (long before I was around to observe the process! <g>)

Ly. Angharad
Barony of Namron, Kingdom of Ansteorra
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