Gum Paste Flowers With No Tools/cutters
Decorating By BlackSheepCakes Updated 15 Feb 2011 , 1:24am by mommynana
Im away from home, visiting family. They want me to make a cake with gumpaste flowers, but I have no cutters, and no tools whatsoever. I was able to find Wilton gumpaste at their local Wal-mart, but nothing else. Any ideas on what I can use to make various flowers without cutters?
Im thinking I could just print out some flower patterns and use an razor knife to trace along the outline of them. But I have no other tools. Please help. Its for a mothers day cake. 
In the forums there is a bunch of stickies with flower directions. Several of them are made without cutters and many are you-tube demonstrations so you can get a good idea how it works. It is in the top forum.
surprisingly, the walmart(in a VERY small town) doesnt even have modeling clay tools. So, I have embarked on trying to print pictures of the cutters out, and tracing them onto the gumpaste and cutting them out. Im using the bottom of a rock candy stick (the ball end) as a ball tool, and toothpicks as veiners....we shall see how it works...I'll post pics 
This flower tutorial doesn't require any cutters:
http://www.duskyroseveiners.co.uk/page_427689.html
hth 
I just found this YouTube channel yesterday, they make a carnation and a rose without cutters.
I hand cut some of my work for competitions.
I use an exacto knife & patterns... I made by either drawing them, printing them up off the computer, or tracing (sometimes from a coloring book). I also have been known to go to the silk flower section of Michaels or Walmart buy the flowers & disect them to get a pattern.
I have used the edge of a spoon in place of a ball tool (a demi spoon works great) & plain ol water or egg whites to glue everything together.
& for a rolling pin I have been known to use a chopstick!!! Yes a chopstick.. it's actually one of my favorite tools.
Of course you know that you can use egg cartons & paper towel rolls as formers. & If you feel you have to use wires then I would try the scrap book or the electrical sections in Walmart... (I would make it clear that these flowers are not edible in this case).
Hope all of this helps.. I grew up in podunk upstate NY & had to be creative & use what ever I could find :0) & I took a class early in career with Michelle Stidham... Great creative teacher!!
@cakemom. Thanks so much! I have been looking around the house for the last few hours for various items to use. lol. Also, I never though about disecting fake flowers to get the pattern! The things that slip my mind! I am totally going to try that, and I have already told my step-mom, her mother, and my step sister(the cake is for all of them for Mothers Day) that they cant eat the decorations. 
No problem :0)
Have fun & be sure to show us the pics!
When I did my bird of paradise for competition I bought real ones for weeks & disected them, dried the parts out, & made patterns from there.. but didn't suggest this as not sure you have enough time in this case. All this was before cutters came out :0)
& you can Thank Keith Ryder for the fake flower disection idea... he gave it out in class several years ago when I was 1st starting :0)
Some times I made my cutters like moma42 .
You can draw them in a piece of strong box,cut them and wrapped with contact paper.(sorry my english)
you can make roses without cutters. Flatten a small ball of gumpaste into a petal making the edges thinner with your fingers and wrap the petals individually around the cone. (This was how I first learned to make roses.)
You could use the same method to make fantasy flowers too.
Mckaren is right you can also make roses without wires & just a baggie!
- take fondant/gumpaste/modling chocolate/marzipan & roll it into a sausage log.
- cut it into equal parts.
- take each section & roll into a ball.
- take a baggie & cut the side open, but leave the bottom intact.
- place the balls in between the baggie flaps.
- cover (place the top baggie flap down over the balls) & with your thumb press the balls into a petal leaving one end slightly bigger & the edges thinner.
- take more of the same material you chose above & make a cone.
- then take the petals & wrap them around the cone (big end on the bottom thinner end on top).
- be sure to keep the top of petals even in height.
- remember to start with 3 petals & then more to 5 for bigger roses.
- cut the butt end off to make your perfect rose!!
- dust with color if desired :0)
loving the dissect fake flowers idea! im heading to the shops to pick some fake flowers this afternoon! thanks!
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