Mother’s Day is one of the busiest days in the florist calendar and it is also one of the most demanding. This occasion bridges generations, cultures, genders and tastes, with each searching for that all-important thank-you floral gift. Many of your Mother’s Day customers are also infrequent buyers of floral arrangements, which taxes the retailer further. This is when time is the florist’s most valuable resource. Although I can’t give you more time, I can pass along tips to make the most of the time you do have.
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Christine de Beer created this design to illustrate a few of her time-saving tips and techniques.
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Tips and tricks are tools, just like your glue gun. They are intended to save precious moments and are best kept handy and in plain sight where you can reach for them without thought.
Consider posting these tips near your design table to help avoid frustration in a time-crunch and to solve design problems on the fly.
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Get a grip
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Nix teeth marks
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| Suspending flowers |
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| In full bloom |
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Stems on a curve
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• Get a grip: Even though most types of glue we use in floral design dry fairly quickly, we still sometimes need a bit of help to speed things up. Cut out the pins from the inside of tiny butterfly hair clips for the most perfect little claws to hold tiny bits in place while the glue dries, leaving your hands free to continue with the design. These clips fit nicely around most stems without pinching or bruising and they are surprisingly strong.
• Nix teeth marks: You can use Band-Aids to prevent the teeth marks that pliers leave behind when used to bend wire. Even long-nose pliers without grooves still damage soft aluminum wire. To solve this problem, open up the pliers and wrap each side with the smallest Band-Aid size, pad side in.
• Suspending flowers: When flowers are placed in water, they tend to float and you need some kind of sinker to submerge or suspend them in the water. You can position a flower under water by using a magnet. Glue the thin side of a corsage magnet to the back of the flower head and place the powerful thicker half outside the vase. This will not only sink the flowers but it will also make it easy to move the magnet and position each flower to sit exactly where you want it.
• Keep tulips tight: Sometimes you want to preserve the graphic look of a tight bud flower head for as long as possible. To prevent flowers from opening, paint the petal edges with egg white. This also works well with lilies or any flower that has a closed pod shaped bud. To remove the egg white, just bathe the petals with a cotton bud soaked in warm water and the flower will pop open.
• In full bloom: To create a full tulip bloom, let the tulip dehydrate out of water for a few minutes. Place your thumb behind the thick part of the petal where it connects to the stem and pop it back and open. If the petal resists or tears, wait a few minutes more before trying again. This works best with mature tulips.
• Stems on a curve: The best way to curve a soft, spongy stem such as those of callas or tulips is to let it dehydrate for a few minutes to make sure it doesn’t snap when you bend it. Then you can gently massage the stem to form a curve.
• Clean a glue spill: The last thing you need when you are busy is to struggle to remove a sticky glue spill from your flowers or hands. The easiest way to clean up glue like Oasis Floral Adhesive is with Oasis Floral Adhesive. Dip a wooden skewer back into the glue tube, set it aside to become tacky and then use it to dab and roll and lift away glue spills. This works on plant material, tools, fabric and skin.
• Clear underwater design: When you’re designing under water, you can add a few drops of household bleach to keep the water clear.
• Colour predictions: Look at the consumer magazine covers in a bookshop or at the grocery store checkout and take note of all the colour combinations. Magazines spend thousands of dollars making sure their cover designs are right on trend. Take note of the recurring themes and you will be right on trend too. The added bonus is that magazines are usually working a few months in advance, giving you time to order your supplies and still be ahead of the trend curve.
• Photo perspective: Sometimes when you are struggling with a design you get so involved in the process that it becomes really hard to keep perspective on what exactly is wrong. The fastest and easiest way to get a fresh look at the design is to take a picture. Looking at the photo allows you to see through a fresh pair of eyes and you will quickly spot what you would like to change.
Above all else, remember to focus on the customer and the design in front of you, finishing before starting with the next. Your dedicated attention will be rewarded multiple times over.
Web exclusive: You can download and print this tip sheet from Christine’s floral art blog at www.christinedebeer.ca , where you can also sign up for a free weekly newsletter offering updates of her designs and tutorials.
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