How to make Green Spider Mums Sugar Flower

Spider mums belongs to the chrysanthemum family. They are also known as football mums in the United States. Here in our country, most of the people doesn't know what it's called since it is not grown here. These flowers are imported in our country. 

 I've always been fascinated with this flower. They always exudes elegance and joy on flower arrangements. And thought that it would also do the same on cakes. This sugar flower is easy to make. Most of the techniques I've used here are also been used in making other sugar flowers.  So, I hope you will enjoy making them as much as I did.

To start, here are the things needed to make this flower. 

Colored gumpaste  - I find that using gumpaste for sugar flowers  worked best for this project . Gumpaste was tinted with mint green+yellow gel food colors.

Daisy cutters (generic plungers or PME)    

Ball tool       

Veiner tool          

Leaf / Dresden modelling tool                      

Pliers            

Sharp craft knife          

Rolling pin                                                    

Foam pad        

Scissors             

Cutting mat               

Florist wires gauge #20 or #22         

Floral tape            

Water or edible glue  

clean small paint brush (new)

Never-been-used egg carton and Flower formers

This flower is heavy. Therefore, you need a thick wire to support its weight. Since I don't have a #20 gauge Florist wire 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. With a small scissors, Snip half way thru gumpaste to create the flower's bud features. Set aside and let it dry. Also when you’re drying your sugar flowers and buds, do not leave them exposed to humidity. The sugar flowers will not dry. Instead, it will soften and sometimes becomes mushy or melted. What you can do is place your sugar flowers and buds in a controlled area, it could be a cupboard, or a clean corrugated box with a dehumidifier or desiccant packets. This way you can keep moisture at bay.

 
When the bud has dried, roll out gumpaste  about  four  millimeter thick. Cut out six 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, use the leaf tool and 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.  For the first two petals, stick it half way through the bud. Arrange petals, pinch lightly. Hang it upside down as you worked on the other petals. Once the remaining four petals are curled, dab a little water and again, thread it through the wire and attach it on the prepared bud. Arrange the petals, pinch lightly. Let it dry upside down or thread it through on the egg carton preferably the paper ones. I found out that it dries more quickly on them than the styro type.

Using the next larger size, Cut another  four 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 aluminium foil and an egg carton.

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

Notes and Tips:

.       1.  For the Bud, I find it easier to use the angled scissors in snipping the gumpaste as it naturally cut the curves needed for the curled effect. 

         2.  It is important that the bud is completely dried from inside out before attaching the petals. Drying time depends on the size of your ball and the weather in your area. If it’s raining and humid it will take 5 days to a week . If it’s hot and sunny, it will take 2 days, 3 days at the most.

3      3.  When using aluminium foil as flower formers, the bottom will not dry together with the top. There’s no air circulating underneath that will aid in drying the gumpaste. What you can do is after drying the sugar flower overnight, you can transfer it to the egg carton with crumpled paper towels in the bottom to support and retain the form of the petals. Also you can use the crumpled wax papers or parchment paper. Just make sure that the bottom of your sugar flower is not wet and or have excess  gumglue or the paper will stick onto the sugar flower and it would be difficult to remove it once the gumpaste is dried. Also, the petals are thin and is delicate when fully dried.

You can view more photos of the flower on my Facebook page

Enjoy :)

Donna