Don’t toss your dead Valentine’s Day roses — turn them into homemade potpourri instead. DIY potpourri is actually much easier than it seems (it’s similar to making dried orange slices for the holidays), and you can make it with both fresh and dried roses.
How To Make DIY Potpourri
To create your homemade potpourri, start by separating all the rose petals from the flowers and adding them to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit and place the sheet in the oven for a few hours. The time it takes to “bake” these petals depends largely on how fresh the flowers are. We recommend starting with one hour and then checking on them every 30 to 45 minutes thereafter.
Baking the petals on low heat removes all of the moisture, preventing mold growth and creating that dried effect without having to air-dry the roses. You’ll know the petals are done when they’ve deepened in color, the edges have curled, and they feel crisp and brittle.
Once the rose petals are dried, let them cool completely. Then, add a fragrant essential oil (or essential oil blend if you want a more customized scent) to cotton rounds and place them in a Ziploc bag with the petals for one week. This will allow the oils to permeate the petals, giving them that potent potpourri fragrance. After a week has passed, fill jars, sachets, or bowls with the petals and add them to your bathroom, entryway, drawers, or anywhere else that could use a nice aromatic pick-me-up.
For a store-bought look, add other dried items such as citrus slices (or peels), eucalyptus sprigs, whole cloves, and herbs. You can also place the mixture in a wooden potpourri bowl and wrap it in cellophane for a chic DIY gift idea.
