question for everyone

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countrypetal

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just curious - was reading a design book - and they were showing making a standing spray with styrofoam and putting flowers in water picks. Does anyone really do this ????

Also - they put a satin or lace trim around their cross or wreath, with cushion pomps and a spray of red roses thru the middle. It looked sharp - BUT please explain to me how you put this trim on and where you purchase this?? the first thing that came to my mind was the already gathered trim they use for the base of cakes :)

Let me know what all of you are doing.
 
countrypetal said:
just curious - was reading a design book - and they were showing making a standing spray with styrofoam and putting flowers in water picks. Does anyone really do this ????

Also - they put a satin or lace trim around their cross or wreath, with cushion pomps and a spray of red roses thru the middle. It looked sharp - BUT please explain to me how you put this trim on and where you purchase this?? the first thing that came to my mind was the already gathered trim they use for the base of cakes :)

Let me know what all of you are doing.
Click to expand...


Yes, we see standing sprays done on styrofoam all the time...They place the greenery on the styrofoam without water, then water pick the flowers. Houston has so many funerals, visitation and the funeral are usually within 24 hours. A funeral with 10 standing sprays will possibly have four made with styrofoam as the base. We just had a family funeral in Austin, several of the Austin florists made sprays with a styrofoam base.


The "bleeding heart" sprays are very popular, done with a styrofoam heart or crosses as the base. Renee's shop perfers to use lemon leaves for the outside edging. They cut the stems so there are two or three leaves and enough stem to poke in the styrofoam...(they use wet foam more than styrofoam)

Yes, you can buy the pleated ribbon edging. It's so simple to make the pleated ribbon most shops do it by hand. (Texas likes the homecoming mums that use this same type of pleated ribbon) Using straight pins, place your ribbin edge about 1/2 inch from the heart edge...stick your first pin. Then make a loop about three fingers high, place your second pin about three fingers from your first pin with the loop in the center. Now press the loop down to the styrofoam, place your third pin...repeat and repeat until you have gone all the way around the heart. Some shops use hot glued instead of pins.

Gathered trim they use for the base of cakes is very similar but normally plastic with a much smaller pleat.
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Greening Pins Work More Rapidly Than Straight Pins

You can use # 40 satin for less expensive and fancier lace for more expensive edges. Styrofoam cross with ribbon edges up both sides and around the arms filled with 1 to 3 rows of carnations or cushion mums and oasis in a sandwich baggie fastened to the focal point for the roses or whatever works well. Bleeding heart makes up same way, and broken heart has jagged line of red carns or roses instead.

Times here are so short carns and poms are usually picked straight into the styrofoam just like silks using the pic machine. Lots of crowning glory and never a problem.
:balsmile:
 
That was a very good question. How old was the book you were reading? I used to be in charge of the ribbon pleating in my grandparents shop and also putting the water picks on all the flowers the designers were to use. I have very rarely come across a new (5 years or less) designer that has even heard of how to design flat work without an Oasis brand base ( sometimes even with the Oasis brand base) I thought that they must have stopped teaching it in regular design classes. I was telling one girl who had her framed certificate, about a funeral blanket we had made that was made completly of carnations. She had no idea what I was talking about. I think that in every design school they should at least show how to make this type of work even if they do not want to actualy teach it.
 
the book i have is printed in '95 it is floriculture - I would like to know how to make these sprays with the styrofoam and different edges. Will have to practice. It certainly isnt anything that ANY florist is still doing around here . And i was never taught how to do the arrangements in this manner. I wondered what the styrofoam forms at the supplier were for :) DUHHH lol -- i need to get with a much older florist who remembers the old ways and who has the time to teach me a few things.
 
I had a designer who made it once, I saw her cutting off carnation stems, sticking a toothpick in them, and sticking the other end of the toothpick in the styrofoam. Came out looking okay.
Designers have strange tricks.
 
If we have a full day of visiting and funeral the next day we use oasis forms now. But until about 4 years ago, all our set pieces were done on styro. Toothpicks or double ended cowee picks were used for poms or carnations for form, roses were on water piks. We ribbon using #40 around the edge (covered straight around the sides of the styro first, covering mechanics) using a pleat such as a skirt pleat. Have also used "Lacelon" on top of the satin to produce a "softer look". Our Easel Sprays on styro had greens put into the styro but flowers were on water piks.
Ah the old days of burlap and casket blankets (stitch, stitch) Glad I only had to make one after 1974.
BTW, we do a couple of pillows on styro for memorial day and a few wreaths, they are all on styro and picked using double cowee. They hold fine for the day in the sun (if it shines).
 
Rhonda at work said:
If we have a full day of visiting and funeral the next day we use oasis forms now. But until about 4 years ago, all our set pieces were done on styro. Toothpicks or double ended cowee picks were used for poms or carnations for form, roses were on water piks. We ribbon using #40 around the edge (covered straight around the sides of the styro first, covering mechanics) using a pleat such as a skirt pleat.
Click to expand...

Same with us. Used to only have styro - used heavy duty long straight pins to hold in cushion mums. Did a lot of them. Lemon leaf or accordian pleated (by hand with pins) ribbon for the edge. Still do one once in a while when they want a custom shape.
 
This choo-choo train was made today. It was made on styrofoam using toothpicks and carnations. Because the piece is so large (about 6 feet across) we use metal spray frames to support the styrofoam in the back. this also provided a built in hanger for the easels (two 54" wire easels) that the train sits on.

Not as easily seen is the black pleated ribbon around the wheals and smoke stack. Instead of pleating with pins directly onto the styrofoam I prefer to pleat using a stapler then pinning the already pleated ribbon on to the foam. That works faster for me.

This train consists of approximately 700 carnations.

Choo-choo train
 
It was sold for $500.

The size got a shade out of hand because to save time and keep things simple I wanted to use broken wheel forms for the two large wheels. Those wheels then determined the size of the train.

It took between three and four hours to make. As usual the first 45 minutes was wasted on being apprehensive and slow getting started. After that it moved along pretty fast but still took more time than anticipated.

Another small hitch was the funeral director requested us to pick it up and redeliver it to the cemetery after the viewing. A little extra work but at least we now knew the customer loved it. That is also always a risk, whether your vision and the customer's is close enough to make the customer happy.

Finally, the biggest advantage in doing these type of pieces is that most florists won't do them.
 
That train was awesome !! My question to wrap all this up - i see some of you use water pics and some of you just pin the flower on -

Our visitations here are always at least one day - till 8pm sometimes a 2 day visitation with a service at 11 am. I wondering if pinning would hold the flowers up for 2 days.

AND such as this train - do you custom make your forms or are these things picked up at your supplier???

ONE last thing - someone suggested regular florist sating ribbon for pleating - dont you have problems with that ribbon getting crease marks and getting nasty?? sometimes it dont hold up especially if it has to go in the cooler.

I promist this is my last question - next i will practice and post a pic :)
 
Ahhh, the GOOD ol' days!

We used to use styro sheets, hearts, crosses, broken wheels, chairs, clocks, logos of various civic groups, and STILL do in some cases! Back in the day, a company in Philly actually MADE the styro cross/heart frames, tied them to a metal frame with green string, attached it all to a base (usually fabricated out of straw and wrapped with MANY layors of green tissue paper and tied with green string. In fact, now thinking about this, we MAY still have one burried in the attic....will have to look... You could put a nice design with cuts & tubes in the base.

Most of our Stading Sprays, hearts, and crosses are done in oasis frames. We charge b/t $150-$200 for them (st. sprays can go lower...). Many will use them for the evening viewings and the service the next day. We also get requests for pick up and re-delivery of the piece, and charge accordingly.

That train was VERY nice! We would have charged about $700 for that given the man-hours, # of carns used and custom-work done with the styro. Nicely done! We did a horse not too long ago. Also, we did a blanket of roses for a funeral - $1,000 for that baby... Will try to attach a pic later.... have to find it! (was about 5 years ago b/f we digitized everything...)

- H.
 
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