Gum Paste Flowers

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Permalink Reply by Deah on October 5, 2010 at 11:31pm

Start your flowers now. I have some that are almost 2 yrs old and are still as good as new. Be sure to store them so they don't break. You may want to wait until closer to the date to dust them though.

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Permalink Reply by Sherry Qualls on October 6, 2010 at 5:38am

Susan, also be sure to make extras, there is usually some breakage, especially at decoration time when you have NO time to make more!!!

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Permalink Reply by Susan Saunders on October 6, 2010 at 8:32am

Thanks so much for the suggestions. I will start them this week and I will make extras! Thanks again!

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Permalink Reply by Karen Marie on October 6, 2010 at 11:35am

Susan make sure you store them is a rigid covered cardboard box with tissue paper and some cushioning.... not a plastic container...they need to have air circulation or they can get soft or moldy. If you have some silica gel packets you can toss one in there too.



Susan Saunders said:

Thanks so much for the suggestions. I will start them this week and I will make extras! Thanks again!

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Permalink Reply by Susan Saunders on October 6, 2010 at 2:20pm

Thanks Karen, I was just talking to my hubby about using some plastic containers with airtight lids!! I guess thats out! Love this site to learn all of the tricks of the trade! Thanks everyone! Have a Blessed Day! :)

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Permalink Reply by Patricia Soto on October 6, 2010 at 2:28pm

When I make my flowers I store them in egg cartons.. Good luck

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Permalink Reply by Bettina Dwyer on October 6, 2010 at 5:43pm

Where I live in Australia, it gets REALLY humid during summer, so once I make my flowers or figures they go into a sealed box which has a layer of crystal kitty litter on the bottom. Over that is a couple of layers of paper towel and then I have a cake rack. The kitty litter is inert so it is non toxic, and takes care of any moisture in the box. I can make bits and pieces months before I need them.

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Permalink Reply by jeri c on October 7, 2010 at 11:07pm

Making them ahead will make the process go much better too! I love to sit and dust flowers! I have some that are a couple years old and are still just fine. I have a bunch stored in an air tight plastic container that have been there for about 8 months and they are just fine. They are in a cool room that the temp stays pretty consistant and I live in a very dry climate too. I do have several layers of paper towels in there with them too. With the stargazers, you will want to be sure they are supported because stress on the petals can cause them to break. Good Luck!!

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Permalink Reply by Karen Marie on October 8, 2010 at 1:19am

Well see the issue is the humidity and that is why here in FL I wouldnt put them in plastic because the humidity can become trapped inside the plastic box. Putting the kitty litter is a great idea or silica gel packets to absorb the moisture. Back in August I had my A/C go out for 5 days and my sugar plaques just melted...it was horrible....poor things...

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Permalink Reply by jeri c on October 12, 2010 at 12:24am

The wedding I did a few weeks ago I had made 200 hydrenga blooms to put on the cupcakes. They had set up for a week and were good and dry and I put them on the cupcakes the night before and put the cupcakes in my cupcake carriers that are plastic and have a lid that goes over them that locks shut... and some were in boxes with foil covering them.... anyway it was not humid here at all and the next morning I removed the foil to see how things were going and all of the flowers had absorbed the moisture from the icing and they were sticky... I paniced and thought as soon as the air hits them they will be ok... I took them to the venue, set them up and by the time we had them all set up, the flowers had dried in the air and were fine. So if there is any kind of moisture... not a good idea to cover them in any way. I allow my flowers to dry all the way and I just checked some roses that I have had since last spring in an air tight plasitc container in the closet and they are just fine. But they were very dry before putting them in there. And we do not have hardly any humidity here at all... so be sure you are in very dry climate and your flowers are very dry before using the plastic containers unless you use silica packets or the kitty litter.

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Permalink Reply by Les Brown on October 23, 2010 at 2:10am

hi the sooner you start the better especially if you have a lot to make. lillys are really easy to do I made them as my very first flower a couple of months ago, check out my pics to see the result the secret is to just take your time dont try and rush them.

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