How to make Spider Mums Sugar Flower

Posted by donnadol

Spider mums belongs to the chrysanthemum family. They are also known as football mums in the United States. I've always been fascinated with this flower. They always look good on flower arrangements. This sugar flower is easy to make. Most of the techniques I've used has been used in other sugar flowers. I hope you will enjoy making them as much as I did.  

List of Materials

• Daisy cutters, ball tool, veiner tool, leaf sculpting tool, sharp craft knife, rolling pin, foam pad, scissors,
• cutting mat, edible glue, florist wires and floral tape.

To start, here are the things needed to make this flower. colored gumpaste, Daisy cutters, ball tool, veiner tool, leaf sculpting tool, sharp craft knife, rolling pin, foam pad, scissors, cutting mat, florist wires, floral tape, and water or edible glue.

This flowers is heavy. Therefore, you need a thick wire to support its weight. Since I don't have a #20 gauge at hand, I made used of 4 #22 gauge floral wires and wrap it with a green floral tape. Make a loop on one end and set aside. Make a small ball of green gumpaste to make a bud and, inset floral wire. Snip half way thru gumpaste to create the flower's bud features. Let it dry overnight.

When the bud has dried, cut out 4 daisy petals, choose a size that will cover 3/4 of your bud. Cut each petal into two. Thin down petals if needed by rolling it out with a rolling pin. To create the cupped/curled look of the petals, apply pressure from the tip of the petal down to the base. Repeat to all petals.

Dab a small amount of edible glue and thread it through the wire and attach it on the dried bud. Arrange petals, pinch lightly. Hang it upside down to dry.

Using the next larger size, Cut another 4 daisy flowers. Cut each petal into 2 and this time use the veiner tool. Run it through the petal starting from the tip down to the base. Be careful not to push too hard or your petals will tear. Don't worry if you lost a petal or two, it will be concealed by the next petal.

For the last set of petals, you need a larger cutter. If you don't have one :) don't worry, just use the previous cutter you used and thin it out using your ball tool to stretch out each petal. Again, cut it into 2 and do the same just like the second batch of flowers. Dry flowers either by hanging it on a drying rack or on a flower former. Or you may improvise by using a crumpled foil and lay it on an egg carton.

Here's an example of an improvised flower former using aluminum foil and an egg carton.

A closer look of the finished Spider Mum. For a fuller look, may add more petals (bigger in size for the last set of petals).