Stargazer Lily Bud

The stargazer lily from Wilton's Course 4: Advanced Gum Paste Flowers is pretty spectacular on its own, but there's one thing you can add to make it that much more real: a bud. It takes just a few minutes to make with materials you'll already have out from making the lily, including…

 …florist's tape, 20-gauge florist's wire, needle-nose pliers (the ones used in jewelry-making), gum glue adhesive (a pinch of gum paste dissolved in a tablespoon of water), Color Dust in Deep Pink and Lime Green, a small brush for each color, a dusting pouch filled with a 50/50 blend of cornstarch and powdered sugar, white gum paste (under a plastic cup, which has a greenhouse effect), a gum paste storage board to use as the work area, the knife tool from Wilton's 10-piece Fondant & Gum Paste tool set, and Crisco (to knead into the gum paste, if it gets too dry). You'll also need a Styrofoam block and maybe a ruler. Start by bending one end of a wire into a hook around the end of the needle-nose pliers:

 Roll a 1" ball of gum paste. I found it handy to have a ruler for this and some subsequent steps, but you might not need one.

 Dust the backside of the storage board, and roll the ball into a log, tapered at one end. I achieved this by concentrating my rolling toward one end:

 The final shape should be about 2.5" long.

 Dip the hook end of the wire in the gum glue adhesive…

 …and insert it about 1.5" to 2" into the base:

 Draw three deep grooves that run the length of the bud from the base to the tip with the knife tool:

 Stick the wires into the Styrofoam block and allow the buds to firm up.

Wrap the wire with florist's tape. Cut off about 6" of tape, pull an inch or so gently at one end to activate the adhesive, and start wrapping the wire at an angle…

 …an inch or so down the stem. Once the tape starts to catch and stick to itself…

 …slide it up snugly, just under the bud. Wrap the remainder of the stem and snip off any excess tape.

 You'll want a different brush for each color. Start with a wider brush to do the faint pink blush down the center of each section. I barely touched the bristles to the Dark Pink dust, shook most of it off, then lightly swept it on in long strokes almost the length of the bud:

 I used a narrow, angled brush to dust the grooves with Lime Green from the tip down to the base.

 I used the same brush to concentrate a little more color at the base, brushing from the wire up the sides of the bud about half an inch.

 Use florist's tape to wrap the bud to the stargazer lily's stem, right in line with the leaves. Believe it or not, more steps exist to make this flower look even more real; I'll try to post them someday…