Hello everyone and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I am trying my hand at floral art and am not sure what type of wire and tape I need. Do I simply use floral wire/tape, or are there specific wire/tapes for cake decorating? I have been using toothpicks, and that is fine, but in order to make an arrangement, i need some wire and tape. I really appreciate any info you can give! Thanks in advance!

The gauge of wire is dependent upon the size/weight of the piece into which your wire will be going. For instance, you would use a 22g wire for individual Oriental lily petals and 18g (with more added when your rose is complete) for a full-size, full blown rose.

You should check out your local library for gumpaste flower books by Alan Dunn, Nicholas Lodge, Tombi Peck, etc.

Thanks sparklepops!

i was taught to use gumpaste wires of different gauges... nick lodge teaches this.... scott woolley and any famous teacher that i have taken classes with... it is not the same wire that you get in the floral dept. at michaels or acmoore...etc... you go on line to differnt cake decorating suppliers and you will see this... you can get the tape at michaels etc... if you need it to be thinner .. then you cut it in half with scissors or with a tape cutter . etc. it can be bought in half width etc. hth

I do not use the paper-covered (expensive) Japanese wire that Nick uses in his classes. I just use regular floral wire from the floral department at Michael's and Hobby Lobby.

The Japanese wire costs 4x as much as regular wire and despite having taken classes from gumpaste pro's in which we use it exclusively, I have never had any problems with using regular floral wire from hobby stores.

Thank you so much! I did purchase some of the Japanese wire, it was expensive, but it is food safe. I am assuming that the floral tape is food safe as well, I am not sure. I did my first rose today! I will post a picture a little later! Thanks again icer101 and sparklepops! I really appreciate you both taking the time to help me!

I teach classes and am happy to try and help you. Personally, I think Japanese paper covered wires are the best to use for gumpaste work.
The cloth covered ones can pull back sometimes when you insert them into the paste. As far as what guage you might need, that depends on what you are doing and how large the petal or piece might be. I am happy to try and help if you tell me what flowers you are making. I probably won't see a response, so feel free to e-mail me

Jen

I don't think that the Japanese paper-covered wire is food safe. If it is, I would love to know the source of that info.

The gal at my local cake decorating store told me they were food safe. I have no idea.