How Do I Dye Pre-Made Gumpaste Flowers?what Do I Need?
Decorating By Kiddiekakes Updated 28 Sep 2006 , 9:46pm by lapazlady
I found a place where I can buy pre-made Hibiscus flowers for a Renewal wedding cake for November.Most of the sites only sell red or white Hobiscus and I need bright orange and yellow.I wanted to know if I bought a bunch of white could I did them to dye yellow and orange??What products would I need to dye them?? What percentage of water to alcohol etc??
Laurel 
You can dye them using Everclear (grain alcohol) mixed with gel/paste color. The final color has to do more with the time you leave them in and the # of times you dip them.
The reason for Everclear is that it has such a high alcohol content it dries immediately and the flowers won't wilt/melt. Other clear alcohols, vodka or gin, might work OK, but their alcohol is lower so the drying will be a bit slower and may affect the flowers.
That said, I think that gumpaste flowers look much, much better dusted with petal dust/ground up non-toxic artist pastel chalks and then either steamed or given a quick dip in confectioner's glaze (pat off the excess). The dipped ones come out looking sort of plastic. The slight irregularities that come from hand-dusting them makes them more interesting, IMHO.
Rae
Rae
I would like to try steaming some flowers and shells. How do I hold them, to protect both my hand and the flower? Do you just pass them through the steam rather quickly? Or do they need a bit longer? The process sounds interesting and I've seen the results, very nice.
If you choose to steam dusted flowers, you don't hold them in the steam very long--they'll wilt and melt for sure. 
The order of the procedure is: cut petals/leaves, wire them (if necessary), dry them in/on a flower former, bumpy foam, cotton balls, etc., dust them with petal dust/chalk, set the color by steaming, assemble the flower.
You can use a kettle, a pot of water boiling, or even a steam iron with the burst of steam feature. Wave the petal/leaf for a few seconds in front of the steam. Given that most petals/leaves would be on wires, hold it by the wire to keep your fingers away from the steam--those types of burns are some of the worst.
Steaming will help keep colors from rubbing off and will give them a nice sheen.
Rae
Thanks Again Rae..I really appreciate it!!! 
Laurel
When I took a class with Nick Lodge I was informed that 1/2 seconds was more than plenty. I over steamed my roses once the year before. What a waste of flowers. They wilted so bad. And it was for a competion. The cake was good but the flowers were UGLY . Live and Learned a valuable lesson.
I use a combo of airbursh and petal dust.
Used to be just petal dust before I invested in that airbrush. Much quicker now
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