Moth Orchid

The moth orchid begins with a very small ball of gumpaste attached to a 32 gauge wire which is cured for 24 hours.

Then using the cutter in the photo, cut one throat of the orchid. I then thin out the ears, split the tongue and curl the tails. The dried center is inserted and the whole piece is then placed in the white styrofoam tube pictured and let it dry overnight.

When dry, I dust the throat with yellow petal dust and add the stamen (which is a small ball of gumpaste that is indented. While these are still most, I paint all the features of the throat. Allow this to set while cutting two large round petals.

Thin and vein the petals with a ball tool. Insert a 32 gauge wire and wrap to the throat with floral tape. I let the flower dry at this stage overnight so as to not cause damage while adding the last three petals.


The final step the this flower is cutting the three petal back, again thinning and veining as with the previous two large petals. Add some gum-glue and attach to the finished center, making sure the petals are set in the PEACE symbol so that they fall between the finished center petals.