With the wedding season fast approaching, many brides are wondering what they’ll do with all those flowers; flowers used to decorate the church, the bouquet, rose petals that will get scattered on the ground by cute little flower girls, mini-arrangements used at the reception…that’s a lot of flowers! Some brides will donate their flowers to local hospitals and nursing homes, but the majority will just end up throwing them away.

What a waste.

For those of you who would like to do something different, here’s a way to turn your flowers into something that will last a lifetime-or longer!

You will need as many flower petals as you can gather-the more fragrant, the better. You will also need a mortar and pestle (or a blender you plan on never using again), a cast iron pot, three or four rusty nails, a cork board, and a bunch of straight pins.

Gather together your flower petals, and start mashing them in the mortar, until they have the consistency of wet clay, or run them through the blender with a few drops of water until they make a reasonably smooth paste. Dump the mashed flowers into your cast iron pot with the rusty nails, and set aside for at least 24 hours to allow some of the water to evaporate.

Mash the flower goop up again, removing the nails. Once it reaches the consistency of modeling clay, you can start making beads. If it hasn’t turned into a clay-type paste yet, set it aside for another day, add a little more water, and mash it up again.

To make the beads, simply roll the paste in your hands to form balls. Make the balls about the twice the size of the beads you want, and use the straight pins to affix them to the corkboard. Hang your board in a dry spot, and turn the beads daily; it will take 6-8 days for the beads to dry completely.

String your beads as you would any other bead, to make necklaces, bracelets, or even a rosary.

Your flower petal beads won’t look like much when you first finish them, but the more you wear them, the smoother and more polished they will become. Depending on the type of flowers you use, they will range in color from a sandy yellow to a mahogany brown.

The real beauty of these beads isn’t the way they look, though. Each time you wear them, your body heat will cause the beads to warm, and they will release the scent of your bridal flowers. Any time you need to remember your wedding day, you can wear your beads, and enjoy your bouquet all over again.