Roses are one of the most beloved flowers, known for their beautiful blooms and sweet fragrance. Whether you’ve received a bouquet of roses as a gift or grow your own in the garden, you may find yourself with more roses than you know what to do with.
Instead of letting those lovely roses go to waste, get creative and find ways to enjoy their beauty around your home. Here are 8 fun DIY projects and ideas to try with roses
1. Make Potpourri
One of the most popular uses for roses is potpourri. Simply hang dry or air-dry rose petals and add your favorite mix of spices and essential oils like cinnamon, clove and vanilla. Place the fragrant potpourri in bowls around your home or gift jars to friends. The scent of roses will fill any room.
2. Craft a Dried Rose Wreath
Preserve the beauty of your roses in a dried rose wreath, Dehydrate rose blooms and buds then wire them onto a wreath form, Hang on doors as decor or use as an elegant wall hanging, You can keep the natural rose colors or spray paint them in the hue of your choice
3. Dress Up Fruits with Roses
Add an elegant touch to your fruits by garnishing them with small rose buds. The pops of color make any fruit salad, cheese board or dessert look extra fancy. Try topping strawberries, figs, or melon slices with tiny roses. Just be sure to remove the bitter white portion of the rose stem.
4. Make Rosewater
Capture the essence of roses in a bottle by making your own rosewater. Place rose petals in a pot of water and simmer until fragrant. Let cool, then strain and transfer the water into a spray bottle. Use as a natural facial toner, body splash, or to scent homemade cosmetics.
5. Press and Frame Rose Petals
Preserve roses forever by pressing and framing the flowers. Place rose petals between the pages of a heavy book. Once dried and flattened, glue them onto cardstock and frame with a beautiful frame. This makes a thoughtful homemade gift and timeless wall art.
6. Craft Rose Petal Ice Cubes
Add a touch of natural beauty and scent to drinks with rose petal ice cubes. Place a few small petals in each compartment of an ice cube tray and fill with water. Freeze overnight, then add the floral cubes to lemonade, iced tea, sangria and more. As the ice melts, it will gently infuse beverages with the flavor of roses.
7. Make a Soothing Rose Bath or Scrub
Pamper your skin with the nourishing benefits of roses. Add a handful of petals to a warm bath or blend with oil and sugar to create an exfoliating body scrub. Roses contain antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties that soothe and rejuvenate skin.
8. Fashion a Dried Rose Bouquet
Dry your roses and create a everlasting bouquet. Cut roses, remove the stems and hang upside down in a dry place. Once dried, gather into bunches and tie with ribbon or string. Display the dried bouquets in vases or jugs for a natural, romantic look that lasts.
The next time you have an abundance of roses, don’t discard them. With a little creativity, you can find many decorative and practical uses for roses around your home. Craft fragrant potpourri or skin-soothing products, embellish foods, make art and more. Preserve and extend the beauty of roses with these fun DIY ideas.
Using Rose Petals in Cooking
A lot of people don’t know that rose petals can be used in cooking, but they are often used in Middle Eastern and some Indian dishes. Turkish delight is a familiar example of a rose-flavored food. Ras el hanout is a North African spice mix that has turmeric, pepper, clove, coriander, and dried rose petals mixed in with other savory spices.
Spice mixes with rose can make an excellent dry rub for poultry, lamb and other meats. In western culture, roses are more often used in desserts and other sweet dishes. Rose pairs well with honey, dried apricots and saffron as well as summer fruits like strawberries and raspberries.
Here are a few examples of cooking with rose petals to inspire your culinary creativity:
- Rose tea: Rose hips or dried rose petals can be steeped in hot water to make a light rose tea.
- Drinks with rose petals: Rose petals can give lemonades, juices, and iced tea a light floral flavor. To get the flavor out of fresh rose petals, just crush them up and mix them into a cool, fruity drink. Rose petals can also be frozen into ice cubes to make a pretty and tasty punch.
- Take a saucepan and mix equal parts sugar and water. Then, bring it to a boil. Stir continuously until the sugar is completely dissolved. Bring to a simmer, then add fresh or dried rose petals and stir them in. After taking it off the heat, let it sit for about 10 minutes. Use a fine sifter to get rid of the rose petals, and then let the syrup cool. Rose simple syrup is delicious in cocktails, tea and lemonade.
- Rose sugar: Cut up half a cup of rose petals and mix them with two cups of sugar. Put the sugar in a tin with a lid and keep it somewhere cool and dark for about a week. To get rid of the petals, strain the sugar through a sieve into a clean glass jar. A few of them can remain. You can sprinkle this flower sugar on top of sugar cookies or use it in tea.
- Candied flower petals: You can use candied flower petals as a decoration on cakes and desserts or just as a sweet treat after dinner. Roses or any other flower that can be eaten can be used in this recipe. Paint each flower petal or twig with egg whites that have been lightly beaten, then coat it in sugar. Lay the petals on wax paper to dry until hardened.
- Salads with rose: Fruit and mixed greens salads taste great with fresh rose petals. For a cool summer lunch, make a salad with other herbs and flowers from your garden.
- Dry rose in granola: Mix honey, dried cranberries, and dried apricots into a sweet granola mix. Then add dried rose petals. This flower granola tastes great with vanilla yogurt, but you can also eat it by itself as a healthy snack.
- Rose butter: Cut up fragrant rose petals and mix them into butter that has been softened. Put the butter in a ramekin and put it in the fridge until you’re ready to serve. For extra sweetness, you can also add raw sugar or almond extract. This light butter goes well with fruity muffins, crackers, or biscuits.
- Rose water: Adding rose to water is a great way to add the flavor of rose to a whole dish, like a custard, sponge cake, or other baked goods. Rose water can also be used as a perfume or toner, or it can be added to drinks. Rose water sprayed on your face and neck will make your skin feel fresh and tight.
When cooking with roses, be sure to incorporate them in moderation. The light, fruity taste of roses is more enjoyable when it doesn’t take over the food or drink but instead goes well with it.
Preparing Roses for Cooking
If you want to pick roses from the wild or your own garden, remember that the best time is in the middle of the morning. You should pick your roses when the morning dew has dried off but before it gets too hot. Cut off the small white part at the bottom of each flower petal before you cook with them. This part has a bitter taste that may not complement your dish. Gently wash your rose petals and lay them on a dish towel to dry.
If your recipe calls for fresh rose petals, you should use them no more than two hours after taking them off the flower. Rose petals can also be kept in the fridge for up to a week to keep them from going limp. You can use a dehydrator or just leave the rose petals out in the sun on a dry day to dry. Dried rose petals should be stored in a sealed glass jar and kept out of the sun.
Rose hips can also be used in cooking, particularly as an herbal remedy. Rose hips are the fruit of the rose that’s shaped like a rounded, burnished knob. To get a rose hip, you have to pick the fruit off the rose bush after the petals have fallen off in the fall. Rose hips tend to be the sweetest when picked after the first frost. Commonly used dried, rose hips contain vitamin C and can be steeped to make rose tea. Rose hips can also be made into jams or infused in floral vinaigrette.
How to Keep Roses Fresh
What to do with leftover rose petals?
If you have rose petals leftover, don’t throw them out. Just dry them in the oven and place them in a freezer bag in the freezer.). If you’re wondering what to do with rose petals you’ve collected from your garden, making rose petal water is the best place to start.
What can you do with rose petals?
The only two ideas for rose petal crafts that we could come up with were drying the rose petals to make into potpourri or simply putting them in a glass vase of some sort to keep on a shelf. We knew there had to be other clever ways to use them for rose petal crafts or to create special keepsakes so she could enjoy them longer.
Can you make home remedies with roses?
The answer is, yes! When it comes to making medicinal home remedies with roses, old-fashioned or wild types that are naturally fragrant are the best option. However, if you only have access to modern-day hybrids or something like knockout rose bushes – they’ll work just fine for any of the DIY bath and beauty projects below.
How do you preserve rose petals?
Add fresh rose petals to a mason jar and lightly pack them in. Pour honey over the petals almost to the top, and stir with a non-metallic object (a bamboo skewer works nicely) to ensure petals are coated. Add more honey to the top. Put on lid and screw cap and let them sit for 6 weeks in the cupboard.
