How To Make Bridal Gladioli Flowers & Buds | Gumpaste | Cold Porcelain

This gladioli, is a pretty and elegant white bloom. It is commonly known as the ‘The Bride’ or ‘Sword Lily’ because the petals are shaped like sharp swords. Peeping out from the centre and the topside of each delicate sweeping petal there is a surprising subtle shade of Chartreuse.

They are excellent for flower arrangements, making them absolutely ideal for bridal bouquets, adorned on a wedding cake or floral table displays.

The other beautiful thing about this flower, is that it is easier to make than it looks! I think once you have the master the technique, you will be making them for many wedding, celebration cakes or to grace sugar flower arrangements.

I have also made a VIDEO for this tutorial.

JUMP TO VIDEO

Petal Shape

The petal shape is what makes this flower, but if you don’t have this petal cutter, never fear! To make the petals for this lily, I actually used a leaf cutter and moulded the metal slightly into shape. Here are the measurements for petal cutter that I used: L=5.5cm x W=1.8cm (measured at the widest part of the petal cutter).

If you would like to see the exact shape I used, here is a link for you to download. Print it off and use it as a template to cut out your petals.

Calyx

I made the calyx freehand, I have also included the shape I used, on the same download template as the petal.

Make Edible Flowers Look Realistic & Natural

I highly recommend if you can get your hands on the real flower you are making it will help you greatly. If you can’t the internet and Pinterest are full of brilliant clear flower photographs for you to look at, so you can study each petal, flower centre, whole flower and leaves in detail. This will really help you to create more realistic, natural looking edible flowers.

Equipment Required

The full list of equipment is outlined below the photo.

Equipment/Tools

• 18-gauge white florist wire (for the stem)

• 24-gauge white florist wire (for the buds)

• 28-gauge or 30-gauge white florist wire (for the petals)

• Leaf Petal cutters (to be re-shaped) OR My FREE TEMPLATE

• 3 Stamen

• Fine Semolina coloured deep burgundy

• White florist tape

• Mid-green florist tape

• Veining rolling pin

• Lily veiner or veining tool

• Corn husk veiner or veining tool

• Wire cutters

• Needle nose pliers

• Ball tool (plastic or metal is fine)

• Palette knife or something alternative

• Rolling pin (6” or 9” length)

• Paint brushes – For edible glue and dusting petal dusts.

• Foam pad

• A3 Self-healing cutting mat

• A glass cup (alternative to stop gumpaste from drying out)

• Zip lock bags/cling wrap/airtight container - Gumpaste dries quickly, so it will need to be stored away while you work.

• Something to insert your buds and leaves into as you work, such as a cake dummy, polystyrene or florist foam blocks (Oasis).

Edible Ingredients

*Vegan Gumpaste - My Vegan Gumpaste recipe is easy to make and works well in humidity.

• Or my Traditional Gumpaste recipe, which dries quickly and works well in humidity as well.

• *Sugar glue - Container for storing sugar glue if you make it yourself. My super easy sugar glue recipe is simple to make.

• Vegan-Friendly Petal dust - Colours. See my full list of vegan friendly colours here.

• Corn flour/Corn starch – To prevent gumpaste from sticking.

• Trex/Crisco (Vegetable shortening) – For conditioning gumpaste.

In this tutorial I used Vegan-friendly products by: Sugarflair Gel & petal dust colours

Sugarflair gel colour – Spruce Green

EdAble Art – Spring Green

Sugarflair – Primrose

Crystal Colours - Tree Bark

Making The Centre - Pistil & Stamens

The centre of this Gladioli looks more complex than it actually. However with a twist of white florist tape and some coloured fine semolina for the pollen - will bring this centre to life.

1. The Pistil is made from white florist tape. Cut the tape into three quarter width lengths. Make sure to stretch the tape to activate the glue. Twist each length tightly into a tapered point. Cut each twisted tape to a length of about 6cm long.

2. Bring the three twisted tapes evenly together. Measure 1 cm down to form the pistil. Roll the remaining lengths together. Using tweezers carefully curl back the 1cm area, to create the pistil.

3. Colour some fine semolina deep burgundy with edible petal dust, this is the pollen. Take three stamen. Take one stamen at a time and brush on some edible glue to the stamen area only. Dip the stamen into the semolina, make sure it is evenly covered. Knock off any excess pollen. Leave it to dry. Repeat the process for the remaining two stamen.

4. When the stamen have dried. Use half width white florist tape to tape the stamen about 0.5cm down from the pistil.

5. Then take a half length 18-gauge (or 20-gauge) white florist wire. Tape the pistil and the stamen to the 18-gauge wire (or 20-gauge). The finished length of the pistil should be about 3cm - 4cm (when the the flower is fully assembled).

TIP: I used 18-gauge white florist wire, since I did not have any 20-gauge wire. These two are similar in weight, so it will not make a big difference to your finished flower. You can follow this tip at any time - using the next gauge florist wire up or down as a replacement, if you do not have the exact size available.

Petals

As I mentioned above, if you do not have this petal cutter available, use a similar cutter or do you can do the same thing I did and adapt a leaf or alternative cutter. Here is the link to the shape and size of the petal cutter (+ calyx shape).

I used my Vegan Gumpaste, which I am using more often now. It is really lovely to work with, it dries slower therefore it gives you time to manipulate the petals. Once the flowers are made, they are also less fragile than the my Traditional Gumpaste recipe, which is a great bonus!

I also used my new veining rolling pin (which you could win in the GIVEAWAY), which made the task easier. I haven’t put my veining board (groove board) to one side just yet, it still does a great job of creating the vein line needed for inserting the florist wire.

1. If you are using the veining rolling pin, roll out white gumpaste to about 1 - 2mm thick, then roll the veining rolling pin evenly over the gumpaste so the petal is fairly thin. You will need to cut out 6 petals for this flower. Place the petals in a place sleeve, so they do not dry out, as you work on each petal at a time.

2. Holding the petal between your thumb and index finger (or third finger if that is more comfortable for you). Cut some 28-gauge or 30-gauge white florist wire into shorter lengths of at least 6 - 8 cm. Gently insert the wire into the petal about three forth (3/4) to half (1/2) way into the petal.

3. Place the petal onto a foam pad, using a ball tool carefully thin the petal edge. If you have one use a lily veiner to vein the petal. If you have neither of these. You can use a veining tool to create the distinct lines in the petals.

4. Gently pinch the base of each petal and fold back the tip, so it falls back in a natural shape. Place the petals onto soft foam to dry, with the petal hanging over the edge of the foam.

5. About 20 - 30 minutes with the petals have set up slightly. Hold the petals gently one at a time, gently curl back the tip a little further, then softly curve the wire in the petal around half way (1/2) to the base of the petal. Place the petal onto its side and allow it to continue to drying in this position.

TIP: If you are having problems wiring petals (or leaves). I have made a video and written a blog with additional info, tips and techniques to help you.

Make as many flowers as you would like. You will only need 3 - 4 flowers for a longer stem or a cascade of flowers on a cake.

Buds

1. Cut a 24-gauge wire into 3 equals pieces. Bend a hook into one end of the wire with pliers. Lightly brush some edible glue onto the hook, if needed. Roll a small pea-sized amount of gumpaste into a teardrop shape. Carefully push the wide end of the teardrop onto the hook end of the wire.

2. Use your thumb and index finger to shape the teardrop into an elongated ‘peg’ shape. Ensure that it gets finer at the base of the wire and is secure to the wire. Remove any excess gumpate if there is any. Allow buds to dry (or least firm up), before using them.

Open Buds

1. Use the dried or firm buds you made.

2. For the open buds, roll out some white gumpaste. Cut out petals. Depending on the stage of budding, make some buds with 1 - 4 petals. A single layer petal bud will be a young bud, a 4 petal bud will be more open in bloom.

TIPS: Make the buds in a variety of sizes, this will create a more natural looking stem with the flowers.

Calyx

Again I had no cutter, so I made the calyx freehand. It is a very simple shape to produce, and easy to make. The calyx shape is also on the petal template.

To obtain the spring green colour gumpaste - I mixed Sugarflair Spruce Green with a touch of AmeriColor Egg Yellow.

1. Roll out some spring green coloured gumpaste. Use a wheel cutter, scalpel or knife, cut out the shape into a large leaf shape. Click here for the template. Cut this shape in half. Cut out as many calyx as you need.

2. Place the calyx into a plastic sleeve and use your index finger to smooth around the edge of each calyx.

3. Vein the calyx with a veining tool, scoring straight lines or a use a corn husk veiner.

4. Brush some edible glue over the non-veined surface of the calyx and wrap it around the buds. How much of the calyx is wrapped around the buds will depend on the stage of bloom the bud are in e.g. If it is a young bud, then wrap more of the bud up with the calyx, with only a small amount of the bud showing. If it the bud is more open, only wrap the bud with a small amount of the calx, exposing more of the bud. Pinch the calyx slight down the centre so there is a slight ridge.

5. Cut away any excess calyx around the base using small scissors. Set aside to firm up and dry.

Dusting - The Centre, Petals & Buds

I made a slight mistake when dusting the centre. I was able to correct it, so it was not a major problem. However, I want you to avoid this mistake and dust this flower in the right order.

I used the follow edible petal dust colours - EdAble Art Spring Green, Sugarflair Primrose & Crystal Colors Tree Bark.

1. Mix up some spring green with primrose, to make a chartreuse (green yellow) colour. If the colour is too strong tone it down by adding a small amount of cornflour (corn starch).

2. Dust the centre (pistil & stamen) with the chartreuse colour. This is where I went wrong and ended up dusting the centre after I assembled my flower together. It can still be done and is not a big problem, but just a bit more fiddly, since you have to be careful not to get any colour in places you don’t want. So I highly recommend you dust the centre before assembling your flower.

3. Dust the centre of the petals with the same chartreuse colour. Do not take the colour all the way to the tip, stop around half way up the petal. Add a touch more spring green to the colour you have already mixed, brush this darker shade of chartreuse at the bottom of the petal.

4. Dust the same chartreuse colour over the calyx.

5. Depending on the stage of budding - brush younger buds with more of the chartreuse colour over the surface. For a more open bud, brush the chartreuse lightly on the tips and edges of some of the petals.

6. Mix up some tree bark, spring green with a touch of primrose. Dust this lightly at the base of the calyx.

7. DO NOT PUT THE PETAL DUST AWAY, YOU WILL NEED IT TO DO A FINAL DUST ON THE INSIDE OF THE FLOWERS ONCE THEY ARE MADE UP AND AROUND THE CALYX OF THE FLOWERS.

Assembling Flower

1. Use half width (1/2) mid-green florist tape.

2. Bend back the wire of the petals to a 90 degree angle.

3. Stretch the florist tape to activate the glue, take the centre, tape a small amount of tape to the centre, so there will be around 3 - 4 cm of the length of the pistil that will be exposed in the centre (once the petals are added).

4. Add and tape the first petal. Tape 3 petals on first, these will sit on top. Then the last 3 petals to be taped, will sit behind in between the gaps of the first 3 petals.

5. Tape down the entire length of the wire to form stem.

6. Repeat this process for all your flowers.

Flower Calyx

I was concerned about the flower calyx breaking if I made it in gumpaste, so I decide to make it using the mid-green florist tape.

1. Use full width mid-green florist tape, cut to a length of 6cm. Cut one end into church window shape. Then use a blunt tool to score the surface of the tape.

2. Leave around 3cm of the calyx expose and wrap the excess end closely at the base of the flower around the stem to secure it into place.

Tape Buds & Slight Angle to Buds & Flowers

1. For all the buds - tape mid-green florist tape to the length of the wire to create the stem.

2. Slightly bend the buds at the base, so there is a slight angle and they are not straight.

3. Slightly bend the flower(s) around 1.5 - 2cm down from the base, so it also has a slight angle and is not completely straight.

Dust Completed Flower & Flower Calyx

Dust the calx with the darker chartreuse colour, this will show it is older, since this flower is in full bloom.

1. Use the edible dust colour mixed up from the - tree bark, spring green and a touch of primrose. Dust this colour around the base of the flower calyx. Also dust small sections of the calyx, such as the calyx edges and tip.

2. Dust a little more of the darker shade of chartreuse down the inside (at the base of the inside of the flower).

Full Bud & Flower Assembly

This process for assembling is based on having multiple buds and flowers. I had 3 young buds and placed the next stage and slightly open buds in between the flowers.

1. Use half width (1/2) mid-green florist tape. Take the youngest bud, add the tape, at the point where you created the slight angle. Then take the next stage bud and so on. Stagger the buds so there is one either side.

2. If you have a slightly smaller flower, tape this on first at the point where you created the slight angle on the flower. Tape on some slightly open buds either side of the first flower.

3. Tape on the larger flower slightly below the first flower staggered. Continue the process of adding buds in between the flowers.

4. Follow step 3 for additional flowers & buds to the stem, until you are happy with the finished look. Tape down the entire length of the stem. Move flowers and buds into place for the final finished look.

Your full stem of Gladioli ‘The Bride’ & Buds is complete and ready to beautifully adorn a cake or be used as a sugar floral feature.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. If you make this Gladioli ‘The Bride’ & Buds, please remember to tag me - #arisecakecreations - @arisecakecreations on Instagram or Facebook, so I can see your beautiful creation.