Gentle Gentian

Today we are going to be making up a large batch of paper boutonnieres or buttonholes.  It reminded me of some we made a while ago.  We had 2 weddings with a similar colour theme, and used gentian violet to dye the paper.  

Gentian violet has a few medical and scientific applications, but did you know that it can be used in solving crimes too? More about that later...  

It's always fun and a privilege to be part of the excitement of a wedding. We made up the musical origami lilies for the men at delightful Barbara's wedding.  And then we had a batch of proteas for Jan's wedding too. We're looking forward to the pics from both.  [We so appreciate the brides who send us pics.] 

It was so rewarding to work with a solution of lovely gentian to dye the different papers.  In my search to see how others have used this liquid lavender, I was intrigued to find that it can be used to pick up latent finger prints.  So if you are a forensic investigator at heart, have a look here to see how it can be done!