Wrist Corsage Mechanics

Johan

Johan

New Member
Oct 20, 2008
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Leeds, United Kingdom
www.wharfedaleflowers.co.uk
State / Prov
West Yorkshire
I made 2 wrist corsages today - even though I have done plenty of them in the past, they are not so popular over her but are slowly becoming the choice for weddings. The thing is I have watched loads of video's on Ubloom to see the best way to make them but I just can't get to grips with gluing them. I always start by gluing but end up taking them apart then wiring and taping then wire and glue them on the base of the wrist corsage. I don't like ribbon on them and I never use gypsophilia. The foliage I use tend to be leaves like ivy, ruscus, french ruscus, cyclamen and grasses.

If I wire and tape I can make one in about 10-15 minutes (depending on the complexity) but if I glue it takes more like 25 minutes (I use cold glue).

Is there any tips that may help to make them by gluing much quicker? (not a fan of hot glue for this type of work).
 
pictures??
practice, practice, practice.
I'd love to get our kids away from ribbons and just load the flowers to the wristlet but no go. I have a hard time getting them to go with wire bracelets never mind anything "blingy"..
Prep ahead, takes less than 5 minutes to glue flowers on. Production line I do, with flowers pretty much at room temp. And yes, cold glue is messy when you start out..
 
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You just have to get used to the glue... it used to take me longer with glue, but once you get the hang of it, it is much faster thatn wiring and taping! I can 4 wedding corsages in about 15-20 minutes now that I glue. I took one of Cory (I think his last name is Brown)'s classes last year and it was a big help.

For what it's worth, here's my technique. I'm by no means an expert, so please keep that in mind! Since you're talking weddings, let's assume you're making 2 or 3 at a time, all using spray roses, alstro, hypericum, and waxflower:

1. Place my wristlets on a stiff cardboard rectangle. I cut one that will hold 4 at a time so I can assembly-line everything.

2. If I'm not using a bow, I glue three rose leaves in a triangle on each wristlet pad. (I cut off the strings in this case). If I am using a bow, I tie it to the pad with the attached strings... but I'm like you and don't use much ribbon.

3. Cut all of my roses flush with the calyx (I think that's the right term for the "head" of the rose) of the flower. No stem.

4. Squeeze a generous amount of glue onto a piece of scrap cardboard or other heavy paper. Dip each rose into the glue and set it upside down on my work surface.

5. Starting with your first rose , start placing the roses on the pad. The glue will have set up a bit by now, so you won't have to hold the flowers in place like you would using the glue fresh from the bottle/tube.

6. If you need to, squeeze out more glue. Dip the alstro into the glue and place it around the roses. They will stick easier because you have the roses and leaves to attach to. Now repeat with the hypericum and wax.

7. I do my greens last. This was Cory's suggestion and I love it. I use italian ruscus, pitt, even just the greens from my wax. I'm not a big fan of ferns...

I'm sure there's way better techniques, but this works for me...
 
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Snapdragon Studio said:
You just have to get used to the glue... it used to take me longer with glue, but once you get the hang of it, it is much faster thatn wiring and taping! I can 4 wedding corsages in about 15-20 minutes now that I glue. I took one of Cory (I think his last name is Brown)'s classes last year and it was a big help.

For what it's worth, here's my technique. I'm by no means an expert, so please keep that in mind! Since you're talking weddings, let's assume you're making 2 or 3 at a time, all using spray roses, alstro, hypericum, and waxflower:

1. Place my wristlets on a stiff cardboard rectangle. I cut one that will hold 4 at a time so I can assembly-line everything.

2. If I'm not using a bow, I glue three rose leaves in a triangle on each wristlet pad. (I cut off the strings in this case). If I am using a bow, I tie it to the pad with the attached strings... but I'm like you and don't use much ribbon.

3. Cut all of my roses flush with the calyx (I think that's the right term for the "head" of the rose) of the flower. No stem.

4. Squeeze a generous amount of glue onto a piece of scrap cardboard or other heavy paper. Dip each rose into the glue and set it upside down on my work surface.

5. Starting with your first rose , start placing the roses on the pad. The glue will have set up a bit by now, so you won't have to hold the flowers in place like you would using the glue fresh from the bottle/tube.

6. If you need to, squeeze out more glue. Dip the alstro into the glue and place it around the roses. They will stick easier because you have the roses and leaves to attach to. Now repeat with the hypericum and wax.

7. I do my greens last. This was Cory's suggestion and I love it. I use italian ruscus, pitt, even just the greens from my wax. I'm not a big fan of ferns...

I'm sure there's way better techniques, but this works for me...
Click to expand...

Thank Jennifer
Most of the wrist corsages I do are just single flowers like mini gerbera, orchids or if I use roses they tend to want full size roses not spray roses. I think if the teens start getting into proms over here I will be using smaller flowers but even the ones I've done for teens like more modern clean lines and the only other thing they like a lot of is bling or pearls or sometimes wire to match a colour.
I think you have hit the nail on the head about the glue - I use it straight from the tube and don't let it set enough before I start working. I think I also feel confident that my wired taped and glue creations won't fall to pieces. I do put the wristband onto a cardboard tub so that they are stable to work on. I think that proms are definately going to be the next big thing with the kids/teens but they still haven't got their heads around flowers. If there is a ball/prom at high school I may get asked for 2 or 3 wristcorsages/corsages tops at a time.
 
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