FLORAL WATER SPRAY

photos/post/design: Kristin Ess

What’s the best thing about Spring? Flowers, obviously! Especially the ones that can be bottled up and sprayed all over. Today were going to show you how to make your own floral water.

You will need: A large metal pot with glass dome lid, a ceramic ramekin, flowers, cutting board, knife, bottled water, turkey baster, ice.

1. In the center of your large pot, place ceramic ramekin as your “catch bowl”. This is where the floral water will fall. Some people use bricks below their catch bowl but I’ve always thought that makes my water smell a little dirty. Instead I use a ceramic ramekin that can withstand higher heat. I’ve never had a problem with the ramekin getting too hot and “cooking” the fragrance. But if you want to put a brick under as a buffer, go for it!
2. Pull the petals off of your flowers and give them a little chop. Not too much– I just do it to help release the fragrance.
3. Pile the flowers around the ceramic ramekin as you see in photo 3. Add 1 1/2 cups of water for each cup of flowers. Note: Depending on where you live, I suggest using bottled water. If there’s any unwanted bacteria in your tap water, you certainly don’t want to bottle it up. Could get gross, fast!
4. Place your glass lid upside down on the pot. Add a tray of ice on top. Without going into too much detail- the cold temperature of the ice will help procure condensation underneath the lid.
5. Place it on the stovetop on low. I used a turkey baster to clear away the ice as it melted. Watch your flowers– once the color is gone from the petals, lift the lid. You should end up with a small amount of clear liquid inside  your ramekin.
6. Use a turkey baster to transfer the floral water into a bottle. You may have to repeat the process to get an entire bottle full. Tighten the lid and spray away!!  

Here’s my hilarious little illustration of how the process works. Uh– don’t judge.
My favorite flowers to use:

• Rose (particularly Sterling Silver if you can find them)
• Jasmine
• Chamomile (any tea for that matter)
• Lemon Thyme
• Lavender
• Orange blossom
• Honeysuckle
• Champaka
• Sage
• Verbena
• Coconut
• Peony
• Frangipani

Sadly I haven’t been able to make gardenias work for this yet, but luckily all of the ones above have worked really well.