What to do with those wilted roses

Valentine's Day (and our seventh wedding anniversary) are now behind us, but if you are like me you now have a bouquet of wilted flowers sitting somewhere.  My sweet husband spent time and money to send me this thoughtful arrangement and now it's starting to die off, one type of flower at a time.

The first of the flowers to go were the roses.  Now, husband knows I'm not a huge fan of roses so he always gets me an arrangement of lilies and orchids.  Those are my favorites.  This years Valenversary arrangement contained three purple roses in the mix. After a quick Google search, I learned it's really easy to make rose water from your cut roses.

Basically, pull off the petals. Put them in a pot and just cover with water.  Bring to a boil, then simmer until the petals lose their color. Strain and cool.  I plan to keep mine in the fridge and I'm not sure how long it will keep.  A couple of flowers didn't make a whole lot of rose water so I'm sure I'll use it up pretty quickly.

Uses for your DIY rose water:

*Spray on skin after a hot shower for a pleasant scent and to calm the skin.

*Use as an astringent after you wash your face to pull leftover dirt and oil away from the skin.

*Add to fresh lemonade for a fancy twist on a classic drink.  Add some lemon flavored vodka to make it an adult beverage, or jalapeno vodka for a kick.

These are just a few examples.  With a little imagination and a quick Google search I bet we can find lots more uses for fresh rose water.

What will you do with that Valentine's bouquet?