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A little wedding make...
It has become wedding prep "season" here (my son got engaged!) so I'm thinking about the little things that might be nice on the day. It reminded me of a post I wrote last year for my old blog on Blogger, which I thought I'd share this week as a little extra to the normal fortnightly posts, for those of you who are planning a wedding anytime soon. I know there have been lots of postponements here in the UK, but gradually I see people around me finally getting hitched and if you want to do it in style, but also be kind to the environment, what better way to get confetti-ed than with your own hand-picked rose petals! :)
So, this is how to:
Make your own gorgeous rose petal confetti for your special day ❤
Start off by grabbing those secateurs and get not-quite-dead-heading... make the most of the scent by cutting before they shrivel and go brown!
I just hate just composting the petals when they still smell so gorgeous. I decided that to save them, I'd have a go at drying some petals to use as pot pourri and then... when I was designing a confetti cone with a twist (more about that soon...), I thought about confetti!
Rose petals make gorgeous and environmentally friendly confetti - you are effectively throwing the petals back onto the ground to compost naturally. You are really the middle man, who gets to use them for something special first!
Now, I'm not saying drying petals is hard, but this experiment became more about the best way to preserve the colour and scent. I did it, so you don't need to be disappointed! I tested a range of petals from my garden. Most are white but I now have some red, pink and yellow ground cover bushes. These have fabulous small headed roses, with a terrific scent. If you don't have a garden or rose bushes and can't get them from your friends and family, then treat yourself to a bunch from the florist. As long as you miss Valentines, you should be able to get a bunch for a reasonable price. You could even ask if they have any that are just going over/drying out and not saleable that you could buy cheaply.
Personally I think the confetti is best made with small headed roses as it dries a nice size and doesn't need to be broken into smaller pieces, but either work ok.
There were really only three choices: sun dried, dried indoors and dried indoors in the dark. I left all the roses for 10 days, although the sun dried petals came in during wet days for obvious reasons. And the results...
The sun dried roses are much darker as you can see, although they smell the same as the others. They obviously dry out much quicker too and are crisper, so can be broken into smaller pieces easily. Just dried indoors, the petals take longer but stay lighter. The pink petals lost some colour in the light as you can see from the centre one. They would need longer to dry out enough to break for confetti, but this would be my chosen option if I couldn't store them in the dark anywhere.
But by far the best were the roses dried in the dark. The colour remained as well as the scent. Again, I would allow them longer to crisp, but definitely worth the time. Besides, sometimes, hidden away, they can be left until you need them. I popped mine on a tray with kitchen paper towel below and on top and then put them on top if my wardrobe, which is in the darkest corner of my room. I picked about a dozen heads or more and some roses give you more petals than others. I'd say I had about a small ice cream tub full of petals in total. You will need to keep it up during roses season to gather enough for your wedding. It will be worth the little effort. Now fill your cones, tubs, baskets or buckets with the petals and let your guests enjoy the beautiful scent of dried roses, knowing that you have created something beautiful and natural - and saved a fortune too!
Tip: You can also add drops of rose essential oil to boost the fragrance, but don't overdo it - subtle scent is key.
Hope you have fun gathering and drying this summer. Remember to keep your petals in the dark until they are needed. Somewhere dry too! Another tip would be to collect those little silicone sachets that you get in some products to keep them dry. They are great for keeping moisture at bay if you are planning well ahead!
If you have any leftovers, make some rose petal sachets (much like lavendar bags) dropped with rose essential oil and pop them in your wardrobe, or give them as gifts.
Whatever you do, enjoy the process and please share your results with us here or on our Facebook page :)
Until next week, enjoy the sunshine and stay safe & creative!
Deb x
P.S. We have a great free 2-day workshop in collaboration with "Mothers of the Modern World" coming up soon to help mums with primary aged children with easy sustainable activities to do with them. Sign up here to get involved and join our Facebook group
P.P.S. Coming soon! Our "30 Days Creative" challenge is being planned and filmed as we speak! This free challenge will take place through August 2021 and include videos, instructions, prompts and lives to get you and your children creative! Sign up here to be the first to know!