Pink Saturday - Roses & Give A Way

I want to dedicate this post to our friend Paul, who passed away tonight (3-26-2010), and to his beautiful wife Susan. May God comfort you dear friend.



Welcome to Pink Saturday, I hope you are enjoying all the fun pinks that are being shared. To see the list of Pink bloggers visit Beverly @ How Sweet the Sound. If you would like to share some Pink, Beverly tells you how.

Last weeks Pink Saturday post featured part 1 about roses and their many uses besides beauty in the garden or on a table.

This week I want to share a couple recipes with you and perhaps a few craft ideas. I am also having a give a way, read on down to the bottom for the info about that. The pictures are for you viewing enjoyment, they are from my former garden.




















Rosewater: Place a brick or flat rock in a large canning pot. Surround the brick with rose
petals and cover the petals with water. Keep the water level below the top of the brick. Place
an empty stainless steel bowl on the brick. On top of the canning pot, invert a lid and fill it
with ice. Place canning pot on high heat until all water is evaporated from the petals and
distilled into the bowl. The water that collects in the bowl is rose water and can be used in cosmetics, food, or as a refreshing beverage. You can also buy rose water, a good place is
Mountain Rose Herbs

BE SURE TO USE ORGANIC PETALS! You don't want to use petals that have been sprayed with bug killer, it will transfer to your rose water.



















Rosebead Recipe: (from Herbalpedia)
½ lb fresh fragrant rose petals
¼ lb fine salt
½ oz each of cloves and allspice
Pound the ingredients together in a mortar or grind in a meat or grain grinder. (If
your rose petals are not moist enough to form balls, boil them in a small amount of water
first.) Shape into balls, sliding a thick needle or toothpick through the center for a hole. They
will shrink and dry in a few days and continue to harden with age. When very hard, they can
be polished with vegetable oil.
You can also go to The Essential Herbal to get prepared powders to make rose beads, as well as several other plants that they have put together. I have used the powders and they are great.



















Rose Petal Jam
4 cups rose petals
1¼ cups water
juice of 2 lemons
1 cup white sugar
2 Tbsp rose water
Gently simmer the rose petals in water for 15 minutes. Stir in the lemon juice and
sugar and bring again to the boil, stirring continuously until the sugar has dissolved.
Cook steadily for 15-20 minutes, until the jam starts to thicken. Remove from the heat and
stir in the rose water. Pour into sterile jelly glasses and seal. (The Herbal Connection Collection)




















Rose Candy
2 cups fresh fragrant rose petals
2 cups confectioners sugar
hazel nuts (shelled)
Place the rose petals in a food processor with ½ cup of the confectioners sugar (no liquid
needed) blend until the petals and sugar start to become liquid.. Add the rest of the sugar
gradually until the mixture thickens. Remove from the food processor and place on a flat
surface and knead in more confectioners sugar. Roll in small marble sized pieces with more
confectioners sugar. Place each piece on waxed paper and flatten slightly. Press a hazelnut into
the top of each piece. Let air dry for several hours. Store in the freezer.



Rose-Brandy Liqueur
2 oz fresh rose hips (or 1 oz dried)
1 cup fresh rose petals or ½ oz dried
½ cup red grape juice
3-4 tablespoons honey
a good grating of nutmeg
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 cloves
1 ½ cups brandy
Sterilize and rinse a wine bottle or similar bottle. If you use dried rosehips, soak them for
24 hours before use. Pour grape juice into a pan. Chop each rose hip in half and add, with
all ingredients except petals and brandy, to grape juice. Warm over a gentle heat. When the
mixture is warm and honey dissolved, allow it to cool. Put the petals in a sterilized bottle, and
add the brandy and grape juice mixture. Seal it and store in a warm place, such as an airing
cupboard, for 10 days. Strain and rebottle. This will be cloudy, but will clear after a few weeks,
at which point you can strain it off, leaving the sediment in the original bottle if you wish. The
liqueur is ready to enjoy after 6-8 months after the original straining.



















I hope you have enjoyed getting a feel for roses, these recipes are from Herbelpedia, I confess I have not tried them but they are some I want to try, when I get roses again. Sigh. If your so inclined you can do a search and find alot more recipes.

Now on to the give away. I figured I should show you what your getting.

2 - 4 ounce bars of Creamy Rose Milk Soap.





































I unwrapped one to get a picture of the bar for you. Pretty isn't it. This soap has, goats milk, oils, including rose hip seed oil, pink clay. It is creamy and perfect for the face.

To enter, leave a comment for 1 chance to win and become a follower for a second chance (be sure and tell me).

Drawing will be on next Pink Saturdays post. Good Luck.

Candelabra Make Over

Several months ago my daughter over at Three Men and A Lady sent me a candelabra. She had ordered one and it came damaged, so because my DH is a welder (among many other talents) and could fix it she sent it to me, after the company sent her a new one and didn't want the broken one back. It took me a while to do the make over but I found out why the other day.

Here it is stripped and ready for paint, after its repair. Thanks honey.
Cute isn't it?























These are the original crystals and I planned to put them back on the candelabra...........



















after I gave it a new color. The color I chose is a Bronze, using Kylon's hammered finish for indoor and outdoor use.























Then one day, as I was visiting blogs on Pink Saturday @ How Sweet the Sound, I discovered a blog that really captured my attention, the colors in her header stopped me in my tracks and what is interesting about that is, I don't generally like these colors................ya know blues......I know alot of people just love blue, but I am not one of them










That blog is Design DNA, isn't it just beautiful? Still takes my breath away each time I see them. By the way go over and visit Her @ Design DNA, she is holding a flee market with other vendors and the proceeds go to help rebuild homes destroyed by natural disasters.




Note: It has come to may attention that the flea market is over, but donations are still being accepted, please go and visit at Design DNA, you will be glad you did.

Well it is because of Her beautiful header that I began looking for my own aqua crystals, which I found on Ebay @

Here they are..........................

Beautiful aren't they, so now I had the drive to finish this project.

Here are few pictures of the finished candelabra. I have included several shots, since I can't seem to get a good picture.

Turned out beautifully, and I am enjoying it in my kitchen window where it catches the sun light and casts rainbows around the room. Thank you DD and Her for the inspiration and the beautiful candelabra.


Linking up to................

Pink Saturday - Roses

Welcome to Pink Saturday, I hope you are enjoying all the fun pinks that are being shared. To see the list of Pink bloggers visit Beverly @ How Sweet the Sound
last week we had 172 blogs who had something pink to share. If you would like to share some Pink, Beverly tells you how.

Last week I shared a little bit about Red Clover and the response was good (see last weeks Pink Saturday post).

This week I would like to talk about Rose and its herbal uses. We all know how wonderful roses smell, and the beauty they bring to the garden, to a table top as they spill out of a vase or a single rose in a elegant bud vase. I love standing in a rose garden, the fragrance is very relaxing, it clears the head and makes life's little stresses subside.

Even though we are most familiar with the Hybrid Tea, Florabunda and Grandaflora roses, they are not the ones considered medical or for making essential oil, or perfumes. For that the Rosa damascena, Rosa centifolia, or Rosa gallica are used. For eating and medicine Rosa Rugosa are used. That does not leave the Hybrid Teas, Florabundas and Grandaflora out though, they are bred for beauty, but if they have not been sprayed with insecticides they can be used, and it is even better if they are organically grown.


















Above is a Hybrid Tea rose from one of my former gardens. So what are some of the things we can do with our roses? I love to harvest the petals, several large blooms will do, put the petals only, into a clean quart jar, add witch hazel to cover, place plastic wrap over the opening before adding the lid, place in a warm place and let them sit a few weeks. The witch hazel will change color pretty quickly, as the properties of the roses are being drawn into the witch hazel. Strain and place into a bottle that you can put in your bathroom, remember to squeeze all the liquid out of the petals. Apply a bit to a cotton ball and use as an astringent for your face after washing.

Rose is wonderful for the skin, thus why I like to use it as an astringent in the witch hazel. Also, I add rose hip seed oil in soaps, lotions and skin creams.

You can also steep the petals in hot water to make rose tea.

(from Herbalpedia)

Constituents: Flower contains essential oil which includes citronellol, geraniol nerol,
eugenol, linalool, L-p-menthene, cyanin, gallic acid, beta-carotene

Fruit: vitamins C, B, E, K; nicotinamide, organic acids, pectin.
Properties: Rosehips: antiscorbutic, diuretic;

Petals: carminative, stimulant, emmenagogue,
antibacterial; Astringent; Tonic.

Energetics: (petals) sweet, slightly bitter,
warm; rose hips: sour, neutral

Meridians/Organs affected: (petals) liver,
spleen; rose hips: kidney, bladder, colon

How about some rose tea? Yes, you can also steep the petals in hot water to make rose tea. Use fresh petals, preferably organic and only roses that have not been sprayed with bug killers. One rose is good, add to a tea pot full of boiled water, think how pretty this would be in a clear glass tea pot. Steep for 5 minutes or so, strain and sweeten to taste.

Did you know..........it takes about 5,000 lbs of rose petals to make 1 pound of essential oil? Yes, 5,000 pounds, I can not even imagine that many rose petals. Good rose essential oil costs about $60.00 for a 1/4 ounce, but you can see why, I mean.......5,000 lbs!

If you have read this far, I would like to offer a gift, 2 bars of Rose Milk Soap made by me. To one winner.

Please leave a comment to this post for one entry and for a second (2nd) chance become a follower (or mention that you already are a follower) and post that in a separate comment. The winner will be announced on the April 3 Pink Saturday post.

I plan to continue info on the Rose next week, so be sure to come back and learn more about this beautiful flower. I will include some recipes, like rose petal jelly, or how about syrup? With more on its medical uses.

Have a rosy Pink Saturday

Pink Saturday

Welcome to Pink Saturday

I thought I would share Red Clover (Trifolium pratense) with you this week.



















Red Clover is a wonderful herb. Note that it has a pink bloom, sometimes though it has a lavender bloom. See the leaf, and the chevron shape on it..THIS is sure identification that this is a Red Clover.

From Herbalpedia;

Properties: sweet, cooling, alterative that relaxes spasms and has diuretic and expectorant
effects, anti-tumor, anticoagulant.

Good for use in salves for skin ailments, such as eczema and psoriasis as well as cancers.
Red clover is used internally for skin complaints, especially eczema and psoriasis. It
may be used with complete safety in cases of childhood eczema, cancers of the breast,
ovaries, and lymphatic system, chronic degenerative diseases, gout, whooping cough
and dry cough.

It has been given as part of a holistic treatment for breast tumors and fibroids, both associated with excess estrogen, because the herbal version competes with excess estrogen, allowing the
body to come into balance. The estrogenic effect may be of use in treating menopausal
complaints.

Red clover blossoms have been long used in the form of a salve for the removal of external cancer and indolent ulcers. A tea is also helpful to bathe the affected part, making it fresh daily.

The Pennsylvania Dutch called Red Clover, Rhoda gae Blumma. They brewed the
dried blossoms into a tea as a remedy for croup and whooping cough.

Crimson Clover Cough Syrup:
1 oz fresh or ½ oz dried red clover flowers, 1 cup hot water,
2 cups sugar. Place all ingredients in a pan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for
10-15 minutes. Strain, pour the liquid into a container and cap immediately. Store in a dark
cool place and use 1 tsp as needed.

I like to collect the blooms and first 3 leaves to make

Red Clover jelly

2 cups fresh (or dried) red clover blooms
6 cups water
Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer for 10 minutes, cover and let set until cooled
Strain, bring liquid back up to 6 cups by adding water.
Make jelly using 7 cups of sugar and 1 box surejel.
Add a few drops of red food coloring to give it that pretty soft red color.

This is a soft jelly, very gentle flavor, similar to plum.

I hope this has sparked an interest in learning more about Red Clover.

Many thanks to Beverly @ How Sweet the Sound for bring us Pink Saturday stop over and visit all the lovely Pink blogs with their Pink posts.

Happy Pink Saturday everyone. Please leave a comment so I will know you stopped by.

Pink Saturday

Welcome to Pink Saturday, it is blog party time. Our hostess with the mostess is Beverly @
How Sweet the Sound, where you will find a nice list of even nicer blogs also sharing their Pinks. I hope you will join the party, either by visiting the other blogs (and leaving a comment) or becoming a Pink poster yourself.

A few weeks back while making my PS visits I came across Tami's blog Pinkbuttercream and she was sharing about these amazingly beautiful magnets. As soon as I saw them I knew I had to have one or two for myself. I know, how can magnets be amazingly beautiful, well let me show you.

First I want to show you how beautifully these arrived and the attention that goes into not only the magnets but the presentation. I am impressed.


















Inside the box each magnet was wrapped in pretty glitter tissue paper and had a rhinestone on the wrapping.


















Now just look at these magnets! Are they not beautiful! Yes, there are. This picture does not even come close to showing how pretty they are, and the magnets are very strong. So where can you see more like these? Visit Michele's Etsy shop @ Blingnets (I am not affiliated with this shop, I just love her things)


















I wanted to share one more thing today. While visiting my in-laws for Christmas my MIL gave me this darling bowl (and a couple of other things, I will share in another PS post). Isn't it pretty, and just a wee peak there of my grand daughter, Destiny.


















Happy Pink Saturday everyone. I hope you enjoy the party and will leave a comment to let me know you have visited.