Wednesday, June 29, 2005

Blogging like a Florist--#4

Tonight I received an e-mail from a new florist, asking about glueing corsages. She's mentioned it on her first day and the staff was interested, but hadn't ever tried it.

Seems like, among florists, either you always glue OR you've never heard of it!

Ok, here's

How to glue a wrist corsage

Start with a wristlet--those light weight elastic and metal contraptions. You'll notice that the metal part looks like a rectangle with tabs to the left and right on the corners. (They're usually used to clamp around the stem of a wired corsage).

Fold those tabs in to get them out of the way.

Take four or five artificial corsage leaves, lay them in a stack in your hand, and twist the stems together tightly, right at the base of the leaves. Clip off the excess wire and spread the leaves into a sunburst, with the twisted wire knot at the center--got it?

With a tube or bottle of Oasis Floral Adhesive (um, glue) drop a glob of it in the center of the metal wristlet piece and center the leaves on the glue. I usually hold it there til it sets...30 seconds, maybe, or as long as it takes to hum two verses of Mary had a little lamb.

Now, make a bow with more loops than normal but NO center loop....it just gets in the way later. Clip the wire to about a quarter inch, add another glob of glue and press the bow onto the center of the leaves. Hum again.

Now, you can begin adding greens and blossoms. The glue is lightly slathered on the cut stem of the flower--be generous, but not so it drips. You'll soon develope a two-handed system where you rarely put the tube down. Finish with snips of babys breath, GLITTER, and spray rhinestones. Trust me, no prom-going kid ever complains about too much glitz on a corsage. EVER.

What good taste, huh?

Variations: Try adding ribbon streamers to one side of the bow for a waterfall effect against his back when they're dancing--Awww! Use a mixture of eighth inch, sheer and satin ribbon. SKIP tulle altogether.

When the corsage is ordered, don't promise "Three pink sweethearts and miniature pink carnations". Instead, suggest "a medley of pinks, with roses". That way, you can add pink waxflower blossoms, pink sweethearts, pink stock blossoms, or pink kalankoe blossoms right off a plant. COOL!

Oh, and when you take it out of the cooler when they pick it up, tell them what a WOW this one is!

You'll be telling the truth!

3 comments:

  1. Anonymous3:35 PM

    Yes, well, gluing wrist corsages is a fascinating topic but us HEFFRS would like more frequent and varied postings. How is your front door? Doesn't your lawn need mowing? Whatever happened to "A is for..."? How long did those long lasting roses last?

    C'mon - for some HEFFRS this is our As the World Turns. Pathetic but true. Post!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dear lead HEFFR...
    My front door is fine and a lovely burgandy color, and the drips washed away, mostly.
    IT'S THE FOURTH OF JULY WEEKEND--of course my lawn needs mowing! Grrr!
    AuGust will be for Glads, remember?
    Those freedom roses lasted about 15 days, but that was because I chopped 'em down and floated the heads in water for the last 6.
    Frankly, they lasted way too long, and never opening wide, ya know?
    I'll e-mail you what I've been working on all day today. It's almost as good as another episode.
    Besides, I can TELL you're not laying on a couch.
    Phhhtttp!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous10:42 AM

    Check out my new website, www.seanboscott.com florist in oxford, let me know what you think. still need to sort the grammar out a spelling . lol

    ReplyDelete

You're leaving a comment! Good job!!