Pre-Made Sugar Flowers From Lucks - So Cheap...why Bother??
Decorating By CakeDiva73 Updated 30 Sep 2009 , 4:54pm by littlecake
Rylan.....Cal Java does appear to sell some beautiful roses, from what I can tell by looking at their website. Did they offer more than roses at the cake camp? If the roses are as nice in person as they are in the pictures I don't know how anyone would object to that quality. 
Doug...........get outta the weeds. We are talking gp flowers here....not lawn mowing and car building for Pete's sake! 
Omg, I was just at a bakery auction yesterday and they had tons of Lucks flowers and little sugar pieces for cupcakes. People were paying way to much for it so I didnt get any, but I was looking it up this morning. The flowers are very nice. I like to make them, I think that the fun part of the cake, but If I am very busy with a lot of orders I will gladly buy some flowers from them for the right price.
It seems like on some cake show that featured RBI, it showed his employees producing flowers ...assembly line style...some were working on the petals, some leaves...others were putting dried pieces together...another colored and another made sprays....it seems like there were 5 or 6 altogether but they were cranking out some serious flowers. I can see where they could easily make extras...you know those you make just in case of breakage...after a while, they'd accumulate ...I'd think they'd have to have a warehouse for the extras. I'm on my own, and require a second room for storing "extra" decorations I've made. (the room ain't filled but it's getting there!)
I feel that time is precious and here I just can not get the money for the time it takes so I would buy if that is what my heart is singing at the time.
}i{
I saw that too and it was RBI's bakery! They were cranking those flowers out for sure, I thought the same thing you did when I saw them! Wow!
*******I can see where they could easily make extras...you know those you make just in case of breakage...after a while, they'd accumulate ...I'd think they'd have to have a warehouse for the extras. I'm on my own, and require a second room for storing "extra" decorations I've made. (the room ain't filled but it's getting there!)********
Yep! You are riding the same boat I am!
I make all my own gumpaste flowers which I love to do. But I hate to make filler flowers and leaves. I do think after seeing some of the site that sell these flowers, I will start buying my leaves and fillers and keep making my show piece flowers.
Rylan.....Cal Java does appear to sell some beautiful roses, from what I can tell by looking at their website. Did they offer more than roses at the cake camp? If the roses are as nice in person as they are in the pictures I don't know how anyone would object to that quality.
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I didn't pay attention to the other flowers. I believe the nicer onces have been sold out on the first few days (which I didn't really check). I got the leftovers on the last day and I got the ones that has okay quality. Some are nicely made but some I personally feel isn't (like the petals were thick).
I believe the prices are cheap because they are produced in Indonesia (anyone correct me if I am wrong).
I agree if YOU are comfortable with having pre-made flowers on your cakes then order them.
I'm not an artist so I could never make flowers. I would have no problem ordering sugar flowers.
If I was in this for the art side, then I probably wouldn't order pre-made flowers.
What ever makes you and your customers happy is the route to take.
Best of luck!
To me, those purchased flowers look like they are mass manufactured and do not even compare to the ones that can be made by hand, with love.
It's a very good comparison and I see your point completely. I would venture to guess, however, that most cake civilians couldn't tell a mass produced flower from a blow torch (ok, maybe some can tell the diff between THOSE 2 things, but you get my drift!
). The examples you give is also a good example of why we should shop around. My cherry blossom cake was made for a friend and she purchased the gumpaste flowers for me. After making the cake, I searched the 'net to find where she bought these flowers. I found a few sites and I recall 2 of them that I rejected immediately because I thought their flower quality was bad.
Like with anything, we should shop around for the best product that meets our personal standards. To some, that means making it themselves ... to others, it means buying the best looking pre-mades. Neither is right or wrong ... just persona' preference.
True talk Indydebi, true talk! 
I run a business, I make my own gumpaste flowers because I think they look better than the cookie-cutter mass-produced ones, and I also make a good profit on my cakes, because I know how to price them correctly
I wonder who are making these flowers that it can be sold for that price?
Think about all the middlemen from when it is made to when it reaches you. And it can be sold for such a low price.
Really underpaid people somewhere in the world most likely, aka slave labour.
This is my problem with it also. If you think about what it costs those people, it's not worth it
I wonder who are making these flowers that it can be sold for that price?
Think about all the middlemen from when it is made to when it reaches you. And it can be sold for such a low price.
Really underpaid people somewhere in the world most likely, aka slave labour.
This is my problem with it also. If you think about what it costs those people, it's not worth it
I mean no disrespect or offense to anyone but unless you buy absolutely nothing made in a country that has questionable conditions for their workers (as employees, wouldn't that be voluntary?)....and that's a WHOLE LOT OF MERCHANDISE BEING MADE quite possibly in the buildings right beside those producing the flowers that don't make the same $ per hour that those in one's home country do but they (as someone else stated) are working to feed their families, their addictions, their desire to live better. It was the larger companies (major toy manufacturers...no names mentioned but at least 3 were in the news for having toxic ingredients in their infant toys).
In short...it ain't the labor conditions I am concerned with when buying products from other countries but the quality of products and the shortcuts being made, and the lack of overall concern for the safety of their products. Even those no names mentioned companies above had standards that weren't being upheld...there aren't inspectors in place to protect the public from those places....watchdogs...more watchdogs.
ETA: I had a thought...but I derailed myself a couple of times....sorry
On one hand, many members cannot buy from Luck's because of not being licensed. So stop teasing and making others jealous!
On the other hand, if they're fair trade products, and they don't look like plastic (which some pre-made flours definitely look like), then hey, why not? Send an e-mail to them and ask where the source of their flowers is.
Theresa
okay, I don't want to hijack this thread, but what icing are you all talking about at Sam's? Is it BC I can buy from their bakery? I hate making icing too, so this would be a huge time saver.
Yes, it is Sam's Club icing from the bakery. It has changed my life, lol. We heard about it, tried it and loved it. And everyone, from my kids to my Mom likes it too, which is somewhat shocking. I got so sick and tired of slaving over the mixer only to have everyone say 'It's too sweet'. (Icing, by definition is freaking fat and sugar, so what in the heck do they expect it to taste like????)
Anyway, we get a 5 gallong bucket of white and another of fudge- it is awesome. I blend it 50/50 with pastry pride when I want something lighter, or when I swirl the cupcakes. (The Sam's Club icing crusts almost as soon as it pipes so I have trouble getting sprinkles to stick on the cupcakes). They are each around $32.
Sooooooooo worth it! Oh, and you can add all sorts of stuff to get other flavores, fruit, espresso, peanut butter, etc.
I dont have a sams by me and I tried BJ's They looked at me like i had 9 heads,,,, they dont sell buttercream there...
i've just started making GP flowers, so i don't know whether i'll be good enough to sell mine yet, but i have a question just out of curiousity...
how would you go about pricing them? i know that a lot of cakers that sell handmade flowers (that they themselves make with their own hands) can get a prreeeetty penny off of these flowers. so how much would you charge for flowers that you didn't make but someone else did?
First you have to make sure there's a market for them in your area. Many people near where I live would not pay the price for hand-made flowers, yet, in New York City, Sylvia Weinstock's workshop has people who do nothing but make flowers for her, and even then, I wonder if they can keep up with the demand.
Theresa
Getting paid $10 a day in many countries can go a long way. In the Phillipines, it can buy you 3 full meals, have transportation money and have a few left to pay the bills at the end of the month.
You are right...we have to remember that not everyone in the world lives under US standards.
Getting paid $10 a day in many countries can go a long way. In the Phillipines, it can buy you 3 full meals, have transportation money and have a few left to pay the bills at the end of the month.
You are right...we have to remember that not everyone in the world lives under US standards.
I live in Trinidad.
Our minimum wage is $7.00 per hour. The currency conversion rate is $6.30TT to $1US.
So $7.00TT is a little more than $1US.
A 4-5lb chicken is $50-60.00TT. That is almost the $10US that you feel is going a long way. That is almost a day's wage here.
And the people who work for minimum wage live in poverty.
I live in Trinidad.
Our minimum wage is $7.00 per hour. The currency conversion rate is $6.30TT to $1US.
So $7.00TT is a little more than $1US.
A 4-5lb chicken is $50-60.00TT. That is almost the $10US that you feel is going a long way. That is almost a day's wage here.
And the people who work for minimum wage live in poverty.
Do you work for a company here in the US to make gumpaste flowers? If so, do you expect to get paid as much as a worker (who makes gumpaste flowers) in the US just by making flowers all day? Because if you did, I'm pretty sure you'd be earning as much as a professor in your country.
I live in Trinidad.
Our minimum wage is $7.00 per hour. The currency conversion rate is $6.30TT to $1US.
So $7.00TT is a little more than $1US.
A 4-5lb chicken is $50-60.00TT. That is almost the $10US that you feel is going a long way. That is almost a day's wage here.
And the people who work for minimum wage live in poverty.
and the same goes for in america too! -- USA minimum wage is just at poverty level.
I like making flowers my self but i do not have a problem with ordering them on-line especially if you have a big order. Sometimes you are trying to get things done in a timely matter and being able to order the flowers to make up time saves me a lot of time.
hi all i was reading a thread like this either here or on wilton, and i went to the site also not sure if it's the same one and someone said they had ordered from there and they were beautiful as well a packaging was great. most were white so you could color yourself but so worth the money
i been buying flowers...loop bows,,,stars on wire from here for the last year and couldn't be more pleased
www.discountsugarflowers.com/
i'm in it for the $$$$$ not the art.
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