BAKING PROJECT

(picture from light2spill’s photos in Flickr)

Lily of the Valley, what a beautiful flower.. I wish I have it in my garden. For now I’ll have to make do with the gum paste version . Finally, I’ve got all the things needed for my gum paste flowers project. To make this tiny bell shaped flowers, here’s the list of items needed :

small ball of gum paste

13 nos. of 1.5 inch of fine wire

1 no. of 4 inch stiff wire

Floral tape (green)

Small thin pencil or anything with sharp end

Roller, cutter, sponge, water, brush, Styrofoam block

Method

First, bend the end of the fine wires like this.

Then, prepare the flower’s stem. Tape three wires together.

Continue taping the wires below, leaving about 1/4 inch space in between. After all the wires have been taped, stick it to the stiff 4 inch wire. Bend all the fine wires to resemble the actual flower. It should look like the picture below.

Now, to prepare Lily of the Valley flowers. Roll the gum paste to about 1/4 inch thickness. Cut out 13 number of flowers. These flowers are very tiny.

Do this with the sharp end of roller or pencil. Thin the edges of the petal by slightly pressing it upwards on the roller. (I rub my fingers with some shortening.) Try to get as close as to how the real flower looks like. Leave the base thick or else we won’t be able to stick it to the stem.

Once all the flowers are completed, attach them to the stem by simply pushing it into the end of the fine wires. Before that, wet the fine wires with water first. If the base is too thin, drop a tiny round gum paste into the flower and press down. The end of the fine wire should be visible slightly in the flower. Stick the flowers into the styrofoam and let it dry completely.

My flowers (tak macam real pun.. ) :

That’s the basic of making Lily of the Valley. It’s my favourite flower, but making it is quite tedious due to its tiny size. Maybe I’ll skip this one. Make an easier flower next time.