What a great idea! Turn those leftover dried flowers from your loved ones’ funeral, memorial service or celebration of life into beads that can be used in jewelry, bookmarks or a key chain.

What you’ll need:

1. Dried flowers (any flowers will do)
2. Sculpey Polymer Clay which can be found at most craft stores
3. Wire
4. Baking dish

Instructions for Making Beads out of Dried Funeral Flowers

1. Crush a handful of dried flower petals into small pieces. Roses, lilies, carnations or any kind of flower are suitable.

2. Condition the polymer clay by working and kneading it in your hands until it is soft and pliable.

3. Sprinkle a pinch of crushed flowers on the clay and knead to work it into the clay. There is no specific amount to include; the goal is to have specks of the flowers in the clay, not large clumps.

4. Break off a small amount of the clay and form it into a bead. It can be round, square, disk, oval or pebble-shaped.

5. Pierce the bead with the wire and leave the bead on the wire.

6. Prop the wire across the oven-proof dish leaving the bead suspended over the dish to prevent a flat side from forming on the bead during baking.

7. Form more flower beads and feed them onto the wire, leaving spaces between each bead.

8. Preheat an oven to the temperature specified on the polymer clay package. Temperatures vary by brand.

9. Place the dish with the suspended funeral flower beads into the oven and bake according to package directions.

More Memorial Gifts or Memorial favors to make with Sculpey

A customer told me she was busy baking clay butterflies and hearts to give away at the celebration of life she was in charge of planning. She told me how much she enjoyed the process of making each and every one of them. I thought, what a great idea! All she did is buy Sculpey Polymer Clay which can be found at most craft stores. She rolled colors she liked together (it’s sort of like play-doh it stays soft until you bake it). When you bake it looks and feels like clay. It can be sanded, drilled, carved or painted.

Perhaps you could add your loved ones name on the back. Get the kids and grandkids involved. What a great way to celebrate a life and then share what you made.

Ideas you can use to celebrate your loved one’s life: