When using silk flowers do I need to wrap the plastic stem in something? If yes, what? They also want curly willow on the cake (looks like a spiral branch). How would I insert this? They saw a cake on cake boss that had the curly willow. I think it was artificial.

Just give them a good wipe to clean them and then stick them into the cake. No wrapping needed.

Not all plastic is food grade.

And plastic not manufactured for food (and artificial flowers certainly fall in this category) should not be assumed to be food grade or food safe.

Here's another thread on using any plastic container for food storage:

http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-667233-plastic.html

BPA in plastics:

http://www.webmd.com/health-ehome-9/plastics-food-safety

This thread on inserting wires into cakes will be helpful:

http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-632290.html

HTH

I just used silk flowers on my wedding cake order this weekend and they fit perfectly in coffee stir straws. You know those are good and safe for food.

Chefdot - great idea. Thanks.

I always use straws for any flower, real or silk. I pinch the ends together with pliers and melt it a little with a lighter so the straw doesn't fill up with cake. Home-made flower spikes! I use drinking straws for smaller flowers and the bubble tea straws for bigger stems. HTH