I need to make several large Gerber Daisies but only have 3 of the large wilton flower forming cups. I was wondering if anyone had other ideas of what to use to dry them in without having to go out and buy more cups! Egg cartons are too deep and won't give the shape I need. Any suggestions? It needs to be some kind of a raised ring, but not sure what to use. Thanks!

A coffee mug with plastic wrap over the top - pull it more or less tight to make the depth you need. Or a saucer, depending on how big or deep you have around.

Cut a paper towel tube in 1/2 lengthwise or a wrapping pape tube/aluminum foil/plastic wrap tube. You can also cut them the other way to the depth you need. You might try turning an egg carton upside down. You could put your daisies in between the egg part with it sitting upside down. It might not be as deep.

an egg carton

Take some foil and lay it over the form. Press and shape it then remove and light fold the edges over for some added support. That is what I did for the flowers on my red and white cake, (before they had the wilton round formers.) I had some bowls in different sizes that I used to make my 'formers' from.

Also if you want to plan ahead and do them in stages, after an hour or so you should be able to remove them from the formers and let them dry on a cookie sheet and still hold their shape.

Last year when I did the yellow cake, I did go out and buy several sets of the round flower formers and am glad I did because they do make things a lot easier.

I know this won't help you for this time but I save jar lids of all sizes to use as flower formers. I also went to the dollar store and bought some very small glass bowls to use for larger flowers.

just get the empty polystyrene apple trays from your supermarket not to deep and not too shallow, try looking for what fruit comes in ie pears tomatoes anything in a tray and a better bet would be gardening centres they have loads of empty polystyrene trays of all shapes and sises

I read this someplace... put foil over a cupcake pan and press it down to the depth that you need, you will have 12 flower formers. You can leave the foil in the pan or take off and put it on the counter.You can make as many as you need. HTH
CIAO

I use foil too...you can use foil over a drinking glass if you need to be able to accomodate a wire stem.

These are all such great ideas! That is why I love this site so much!!! Thanks, ladies!! (and/or men) hee hee

you can also use the large bubble wrap and place your flowers or petal in between the bubbles.

Used egg cartons which have been washed thoroughly and dried.

I am sharing a space with an ice cream parlor. The large waffle cones come in a box with a rippled foam for protection during shipping. I am using the foam to rest the flowers on to get shape to them and to help them dry.
I'm sure other icecream shops simply throw away these foam pieces.

I bought some artist palettes. They are circular little plates, with 10 little scooped holes perfect for flower forming. They are quite cheap to buy and don't take up much room. These are a lot cheaper than forming cups.