Tutorial – red poppy, part 1

I must admit… I’m really proud of this flower. For the first time, a flower actually turned out the way I envisioned it, and it makes me so happy! Unfortunately, my camera is really, really bad a photographing red and it always comes off as a big orange/red blob, but at least I know how it really looks! Of course I took photos when I made it so I will share a tutorial, the first part of how to make the center today, and the second part of making the petals tomorrow.

You know what the best part is? It doesn’t require poppy cutters or veiners! You just need round cutters, a flower and leaf shaper and a round tip/daisy cutter. And speaking of round cutters; if you don’t have them but have the possibility to buy them: they are amazing! They are probably the cutters I use the most! And the flower and leaf shaper from Wilton is something I use for almost every project as well!

But on to the tutorial! This part is for making the center, and it is completely edible! Just takes some patience 😉

You’ll need:

Exacto knife (in this case you really need a super thin and super sharp knife, otherwise you can’t cut thin enough. I can really recommend investing in one of these knives; they are amazing!)
Thin foam pad
Rolling pin
Toothpick
Black gumpaste
Dark grey gumpaste mixed with a little red
Uncooked spaghetti
Edible glue + brush
Optional: burgundy and black luster dust
Patience

1.. Roll a small ball, a little bigger than pea sized, of the dark grey + red gumpaste. Brush some glue on the end of the spaghetti and insert it into the ball.

2.. Use the knife to make indentations on the ball.

3.. Roll out black gumpaste as thinly as you can, and cut out a rectangle approx.. 1,5 cm wide and 5-10 cm long. It doesn’t have to be a perfect square: I didn’t even cut mine, I just rolled it to kind of a square. Move it to the foam pad and roll the toothpick carefully along the side to make it even thinner!

4.. Use the knife to cut along one of the sides. Make the cuts as close to each other as you can. This is where you need some patience.

5.. Brush edible glue on the back side (only where you haven’t cut) and attach it carefully around the ball.

6.. Repeat step 3-5 until you have three or four rows of this.. don’t know what to call it.. fringy thing 😉

7.. Leave the center to dry for a few hours, and then carefully brush the purple part with burgundy luster dust, and then even more carefully brush the fringy part with black luster dust. If you are worried that you will just break it when painting it black; skip that part! It doesn’t make that much of a difference. Now leave it to dry and begin with the petals.