What To Use Instead Of Veining Tools And Molds

Decorating By quila86 Updated 3 Feb 2010 , 1:26pm by djs328

quila86 Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
quila86 Posted 3 Feb 2010 , 6:21am
post #1 of 13

So I am a complete novelist...and my 1st time attempting gumpaste flowers is for my mother in law's b day this Saturday and on a limited budget. the only 2 local stores we have is a Michaels Craft which has no molds or cutters, and a private owned business which has very limited items and cost 3 times what they should. Any advice on how to mold or vein flowers without special tools? and keep in min my very low budget.
TIA

12 replies
JanH Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
JanH Posted 3 Feb 2010 , 6:33am
post #2 of 13

Might try buttercream flowers:
(Very cheap to make and so much faster than fondant/gumpaste.)

http://www.wilton.com/tag/easy%20buttercream%20technique
(Easy buttercream techniques.)

http://www.wilton.com/decorating/browse.cfm?cat=Buttercream-Icing
(Flowers and other decorating techniques.)

HTH

quila86 Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
quila86 Posted 3 Feb 2010 , 7:13am
post #3 of 13

Hmm I don't mind doing butter cream flowers...its just that i need to cover the entire top of a giant cupcake with them and the butter cream ones just dont give the same effect that we where looking for.

nancyg Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
nancyg Posted 3 Feb 2010 , 7:15am
post #4 of 13

You could use some manicure tools to vein with. Such as a smooth orange stick to do some veining with. You could use a plastic stick from a pick up stick game. Use the end of a a retracted ball point pen. Anything along these lines. should be smooth so it doesnt tear the gumpaste.

I hope this helps. Please post your flowers, would love to see them

Best of luck

nancyg Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
nancyg Posted 3 Feb 2010 , 7:22am
post #5 of 13

Sorry, I missed the molding part. only saw the veining part. You can do a lovely rose with your hands only. I saw a video of Sylvia Weinstock. doing a rose . roll out gumpaste, cut into a teardrop shape. put into the palm of your hand thin out edges with thumb of other hand. and you can actually vein it by pushing into palm of your hand with other thumb. leaves some veining from the palm of your hand on the back of the petal .

again, I hope this is of some help, and that it is understandable. I have tried it and it does work.

noahsmummy Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
noahsmummy Posted 3 Feb 2010 , 7:42am
post #6 of 13

im in the same boat as you! ive been looking into investing into some tools but dont have the funds yet. But i have a cake to do that i want flowers on before i will be able to get them. I agree with the technique nancyg posted, i have tried it and it works pretty well! otherwise for even simpler "roses" you can roll a peice of sugar paste into a sausage, flatten it into a kind of long rectangle, the begin rolling it up. This doesnt create quite as much a realistic flower, but the result is still pretty! have been making them today! also, a great alternative to sugar paste is white chocolate modelling paste! tastes GREAT! and is a dream to work with.. try this recipe..http://cakecentral.com/recipes/2091/white-chocolate-paste-for-making-roses

JanH Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
JanH Posted 3 Feb 2010 , 7:54am
post #7 of 13
Quote:
Originally Posted by quila86

...i need to cover the entire top of a giant cupcake with them and the butter cream ones just dont give the same effect that we where looking for.




Just what type of flowers (please be specific) did you wish to use and what effect were you hoping to achieve. (Lots of small flowers or a few huge fanstasy flowers, etc.)

Do you have a photo of the cupcake/cake you like? If so can you provide a link or add an attachment.

It would be so much easier to help you, if we could give you detailed advice on how to make specific flowers instead of general advice on how to make ALL the flowers that can be created with gumpaste/fondant/buttercream. icon_smile.gif

HTH

CakeDiosa Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
CakeDiosa Posted 3 Feb 2010 , 8:40am
post #8 of 13

You can use dried corn husks from the grocery store for veining (lightly dust your gumpaste/fondant with cornstarch before veining) and for flowers and leaves you can google whatever flower you are looking for, type "template" and hit images. Usually a lot come up. Scale it to whatever size you need, print it out on card stock, cut it out and either use the cut out or the shape created in your cardstock as your template.

Best advice I got for sugar flowers: think "shapes". What shape is the petal? You can likely use a round or oval cutter and cut it to shape, elongate it, thin it - you name it. You can also use your kitchen spoons as formers for rose petals and other flower petals. Don't get caught up into thinking you must have cutters and veiners. Look around your kitchen, think shapes and you probably have what you need to do your flowers. Just keep them simple if you are just starting.

Hope this helps! [/u]

quila86 Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
quila86 Posted 3 Feb 2010 , 9:35am
post #9 of 13

Going for something simple Any kind of flowers my mother in law is a florist and so that's why I want it to look as real as possible...I found something on YouTube with hydrangeas and they have the tools I need @ Micheal's maybe $5 total (on clearance)...and they would go with the colors I was leaning towards (purples and blues) ...Thanks sooo Much for the rapid responses! I got kinda caught up in details cause I'm making 3 pretty big cakes this month, 1 baby shower 2 b days and the flower basket would be my smallest yet hardest with the details. I will post it once I am done. Thanks again! The leaves should be no problem now that I have some veining ideas...

sugarandslice Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
sugarandslice Posted 3 Feb 2010 , 9:58am
post #10 of 13

I agree with CakeDiosa, corn husks are great. I've cut one to the same length as a piece of dowel (you could just use a round pencil) and glued it on. I use it on a great variety of petals and leaves - gives a really natural look.

Cake4ever Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
Cake4ever Posted 3 Feb 2010 , 11:05am
post #11 of 13

You can use a skewer to flatten or ruffle edges on petals depending on the flower you are making. You can make carnations this way, just starting with a simple circle. In making a rose without cutters, put a ball of gumpaste in between 2 pieces of a split zip bag and press out into a rose petal shape, smoothing the edge and keeping the inner petal part thicker. And then just add to your cone and continue with petals until you have formed a rose... Or you can look at the tutorial on how to make ribbon roses, no veiner or special tools necessary.

thumbs_up.gif

sadsmile Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
sadsmile Posted 3 Feb 2010 , 12:34pm
post #12 of 13

I do my flowers by hand using just a circle cutter and a bone tool and a spoon and flower foam pad. Daisies or mums cut a circle and cut the outside edge like sun rays and then use bone tool to push the petals wider and thin the edges. The carnations I made circles and ruffled the edges using the back of a spoon and then the bone tool and cut on radius into the circle and folded up the petal... using three per flower. Roses using a circle cutter and the one petal method. Using a star cutter you cant thin the points and ruffle the edges to make morning glory type flowers. I don't have special flower cutters yet but have made some really pretty flowers-check my pictures. http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1365176&sub=1366275
And Rylan had a helpful flower tutorial link in his siggy. -All kinds of tutorials on all kinds of flowers!!!

djs328 Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
djs328 Posted 3 Feb 2010 , 1:26pm
post #13 of 13

I have not done this personally, but I think I remember reading in a thread that some people use silk flowers (washed thoroughly, of course!) to texturizel, and even form their sugar flowers. Michael's always has a bunch on sale, and you can get some pretty cheap!
And if you see one you like, you can model your sugar flower after it, identifying the simple shapes Cakediosa talked about. icon_smile.gif
I agree - I think everything is so much easier to do when you break it down into simple shapes! I do not think of myself as artistic - I think I am precise and logical, and I like having formulas and a system, so breaking things down into pieces works for me...sounds like maybe I need to play with gumpaste, now... icon_wink.gif

Quote by @%username% on %date%

%body%