First time using Gum Paste to make flowers.

I'm about to mix the gum paste and try to make roses out of them.

Can I make them today and use them in about a couple of weeks..and how long can I store them for? where should I store the flowers once done?.

Any tips on using this product will be helpful too

thanks

They'll last pretty much forever...or until you get them wet, since you don't eat them. I usually make them well in advance and just cover them to protect them from dust.

The only real tip I have is to watch Tonedna's youtube video series on making gum paste roses.

artscallion, thank you


So I can store them in a box and put it in my pantry with no problem?

Yes. I usually have them, on their wires, sticking in a block of green floral foam. Then I just cover the whole thing with an overturned box to protect it from dust, etc. They stay as fresh as the day you made them.

Artscallion One more question,

I saw the video where you have to make the bud first and let it dry, do I really have to do that. I wanted to make roses but not have a wire thru it....I just wanted to place them on the cake with buttercream to hold. Can I do that.

I had made fondant roses before and I just did the entire rose in one sitting, can i do that with gum paste?

Yes you have to let the bud dry. If you do don't let it dry the weight of the petal layers will cause it to slide down you wire or toothpick, what ever you did your base on.

Just store roses in a dry place. You don't want to close them up in an air tight place, so a cake box or cardboard is great to keep them dust free, but where they can still breath.

You can also do them on toothpicks and then pull the toothpick out after it's dried. One of the reasons they're done on wires or toothpicks is that they're much more fragile than fondant and harden to a brittle stage even as you work with them if you're not fast enough. So having them on the wire makes them easier to handle as you go.

You can do a rose in one sitting. I've done smaller ones or buds with no problem. I think the problem comes more when they're fuller roses. At that point the petals are large and only the very bases of them are attached to the body of the rose. This means that until they dry and stiffen, you have to hang the rose upside down or the petals will just flop open on the rose. So if the cone inside is not dry, it may not hold to the wire and the weight of the rose may make the whole thing drop right off the wire onto the table below, where it will surely break.