When you make gumpaste flowers or other accesories that are on wire - what kind of wire do you use? Floral wire? Is it covered? Is there a specific guage of wire?

I'm using plain wire. A lot of directions call for covered, but I found that the darn things unwind and make a mess. And the covered wires don't stick into the styrofoam as easily as plain wire does. I'm using 24 and 20 gauge. It was next to the covered wire at Michaels. I'll just cover it myself with floral tape when I'm ready to use it. Plus, if it's plain, you can leave most of it uncovered and not worry about sticking it in the cake. Just wipe it with a little Everclear to clean it up, and stick it in!

Thanks Crimsicle - headed to Michael's now!

I use different types of wire, am I the only one who wraps a little saran or something around the wires before pushing them in? Or does everyone do this?

Covered wires are used for gumpaste flowers in different sizes based on size and weight of the flower or the individual petals...
For a rose you would probably use a 20g and the entire rose rests on it, while on the lily's you can get away using a 24, and orchids a 26g.
The smaller the number the thicker the wire.

The material that covers the wire is what holds/absorbs the glue that you need to hold the gumpaste in place when you insert it. Otherwise it'll dance around as it has nothing to adhere to. And when you dip the tip of the wire in the glue, you must clean off the excess as too much is counter productive.