corsage technique

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marigold

marigold

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Feb 23, 2008
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Looking for ideas on the easiest way to make corsages for prom.
I have used glue, which is pretty quick, but, sure is a lot of waste.
Any suggestions on the glue tube? I can wire and tape pretty fast, so
I do about half with glue and half wired. I would love to offer a bracelet,
where the flowers go all the way around the wrist, I think they look better
and are more comfortable. Anyone have a good technique on making these?
I used to offer so many unique designs, but it has gotten so out of hand.
The mothers seem to be in control of their son's dates and order the flowers
and seem to be in competition with their neighbors, and think they are
ordering wedding flowers. It was getting so detailed that my employees
were spending way too long on taking each order. This year I plan on
offering 3 basic flowers, 3 basic styles and a color choice.I never do
carnations or baby breath. Usually its dendrobiums, baby roses or
mini callas. Tried to introduce a groovy hand clutch but, as trendy as these kids think they are, they are really afraid to be different. Any suggestions on how to make prom profitable?
Dore
 
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Hi,
Glue is definitely the way to go. You save lots of money in product and the speed is uncomparable - not to mention the wear and tear on your wrists from the wiring and taping. You just have to get used to using glue and do it correctly. First, if you feel you are wasting glue, I'll give you an easy fix. Do not set down the tube of glue during use, store it upright in a small glass vase. Keep the nozzle unplugged. I can easily do 10 or more wrist corsages from one tube of glue. I figure it costs about 35 cents per corsage for the glue. It's also very important to realize that the glue takes a couple of minutes to set. You place a tiny dab of glue on both surfaces and wait a tiny bit before you adhere.
The amount of fillers I use is so much less. When I taped, I would go through many bunches of gyp and ming and plum and fillers. Now, I use a minimal amount. Plus, the effect is so much more. It's easy to use delphinium blooms and hydrangea florets and tiny pieces of other materials. Again, at a minimal charge, but, I am able to charge the clients for the add ons.
To use glue also enables me to get the base form of the corsage ready well ahead of time. I have the ribbon attached before it's time to insert the flowers. I can also do so much more for the kids. Use a great variety of bracelets. I do several kinds of all around bracelets. It's so easy with glue.
I like to give the kids as many options as they want.
Check out the latest Flowers & . There's a great article on prom flowers and the how to's to complete. I have many pics of corsages on my site. All glued. If you want more info, you are welcomed to pm or call me.
 
I have used the plastic ring from the tape to make bracelet corsages. First cut the band open and attach ribbon (we used some old green velvet ribbon) at the cut end to cover, then wrapped the band with same ribbon. Adhesive/glue on some foliages and ribbon loops then added florets (delph, stock, statice etc) small spray roses etc. filler flower.

We added some offray ties at the cut end so they could "tie" it on in case they are wild dancers. :bouncy:
 
Hit most any dollar store or party supply store - you can still get those old style plastic/metal slap bracelets - glue your material on to there and with a little tap - the bracelet is secured on the girls arms.

A glueing tip - You can still get the Oasis adhesive in the cans as well as the tubes.

by pouring out a small amount of glue onto a plastic film covered card from the can.....I can get three times as many glued corsages from one can than I can from the tubes......WAY more cost effective.

Just pour about a quarter/half-dollar size dollop of glue onto the card and dip the stems of the material you want to glue......quick and easy.

also, hot melt pan glue your trims - pearls, stones, net - any non-fresh flowers material can be attached using the hot glue without it popping off.
 
RWK said:
also, hot melt pan glue your trims - pearls, stones, net - any non-fresh flowers material can be attached using the hot glue without it popping off.
Click to expand...

RWK,
We have had problems with the hot melt pan glued trims popping loose after refridgeration. The glue becomes brittle and at the first flex it becomes loose. Have you experienced this? We currently Oasis glue everything including trims so that we don't have this problem.
 
It can pop loose if you don't have it secured well - Nothing wrong with using the Oasis glue as well for all the trims.
what keeps mine from popping loose is that I use net and tulle in the base of the corsage - all the little folds gives me a more stable and secure base to glue other materials too. - Here's the catch - the kids in our area do not see the use of net and satin leaves as 'old' - because of the unique ways we use them, they see them as added value and added dollars.
 
We hand tie everything together.

NO GLUE! Glue sucks and it doesn't last long enough for kids to enjoy them. Sure its a lot of work but the lasting impressions on these kids can create a customer for life. Every year we have more kids coming down and ordering from us because they know that their corsage and bout will last long enough for them to take them home and dry it.

Take the time and make the investment these kids are your future customers.

Just my 2 cents!!
 
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I wish our proms were this month!! Around here they are ALL in May!! We have 6 or 7 schools in our area. The schools we get most of our orders from are the weekend after Mday this year, thank goodness!!!
 
Eric S said:
We hand tie everything together.

NO GLUE! Glue sucks and it doesn't last long enough for kids to enjoy them. Sure its a lot of work but the lasting impressions on these kids can create a customer for life. Every year we have more kids coming down and ordering from us because they know that their corsage and bout will last long enough for them to take them home and dry it.

Take the time and make the investment these kids are your future customers.

Just my 2 cents!!
Click to expand...

Are you saying you wire and tape?! OH MY!

Joe
 
Sorry to say I wire and tape more often than not. I have oasis glue, and am a glue gun wizard, but I still wire and tape more often than not. I do love the newer decorative wires.
 
Joe Mioux said:
Are you saying you wire and tape?! OH MY!

Joe
Click to expand...

Yep 100% no glue gun required and yes the girls hate it but the kids always love it and they last.

I'm probally one of the few (If any) that Guarantee that our corsages and bouts will not fall apart.

I remember dropping off my wifes younger sister to her winter formal one year. I was shocked at what I saw flopping around on the girls wrist and the guys bouts where blown open with what looked like a whole bunch of Babies Breath.

I have taken notice to the quality of not only the flowers that are used in some shops but even the designs. And its just disgusting. There is no -sense of design and there is no pride. I know that our industry needs quality designers but it also needs to have the funds to pay these designers what they deserve. (here goes my anti filling speech)

All the more reason to stop filling the junk and get some quality work back into the industry. Filling it may keep you in business longer but also lowers the quality of our designs within the industry. It's a Catch 22 and if dosen't stop wages and profits will continue to decline. :soapbox:

Back to corsages and bouts. Two years ago a good amount of schools had their proms on the same weekend as Mothers Day. I took notice to the amount of corsage and bout orders we where recieveing and decided to talk to some of the kids that where calling. I was surprised that a good amount of shops where telling them no because of the Holiday. I was floored I just couldn't believe that the greed of the local florist where turning away the seeds of their future customers. I blogged about it and the response was huge. We have a good amount of returning customers from our corsages and bouts but it dosen't stop there because we also get their parents. Its a win win situation and its really ashame that florist haven't taken the time to realize the potentional of every single kid that walks into their store.
 
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Glueing techniques versus wiring and taping techniques

Both techniques are viable and have their place. If I am judging a design competition and I am faced with two corsages - both with a high level of skill and good mechanics - One is wired and taped and One is glued - I will give more weight to the wired and taped one because it shows a higher level of skill. Also, A lot of creative techniques require the use of wire.....whether the wire being decorative or not.

Glueing is faster, more productive, and if done correctly, steadfast. Glueing techniques equal less dollars spent on labor.

To give an example - At a shop that I worked at recently - the manager there insists on wiring and taping her corsages ( the owner of the shop was in favor of glueing techniques, but allowed her designers to choose whatever method worked best for them ) She would routinely take 20 minutes or longer to wire and tape. I cannot count how many times she hollered for us to help her because she was falling behind.

Wiring and taping was NOT productive and cost effective for her.

Eric feels that wiring and taping gives the better result and greater customer satisfaction.......whereas someone else may feel that glueing does the same.

The crux of the matter being.......speed of production, better results, greater customer satisfaction.......Isn't that what we all want?
 
We wire and tape and glue only waxflower bits and rhinestones etc. We also only use ribbon to tie the wrist corsage on. It lays flatter, less bulky and looks pretty. I think. It is more labour intensive but we have not had any problems with them falling apart. To be honest, I am still on a quest to find the perfect wrist corsage design. I always think they are still slightly bulky but I'm trying to fine tune it.
 
I at one time vowed I would NEVER glue a corsage. I have since had to eat those words. I use both techniques. As RWK stated both techniques have their place, they can be used independently or together in the same design.
I'm a fan of the new bracelets and I push them when selling a wrist corsage. The girls love them for prom and Moms like them for wedding. They add that touch of glitz and glamour. I can't imaging ever using that silver elastic wristlet again...lol
 
Because our prom has been on Mother's Day weekend for the past 10 years, when gluing became the hot thing to do a few years ago, I relished the change. Prepped the wristlets and ribbons ahead of time, put in box and set away till I needed them. I found I could make them at night starting Weds instead of taking production time for Mother's Day. It's much easier to sit at night with them lined up on the bench, flowers ready and glue (listening to the TV) with peace and quiet, no phones, no walk ins....Makes the process go much smoother and quicker.
Granted we don't do more than 40? for our proms - although that may change this year as they've finally changed the date to the week after Mother's Day (Hooray!!) and we'll be able to offer a bit more than we have before for selection of flowers.
Gluing is the only way....except for :faint: single rose and single carnation pin ons. :eek:
 
We glue all our corsages. We have a large Rubbermaid container filled with the bows and wristlets already to be glued into. For the wristlets, we use wired, satin tubing. We use 2 loops, wire the ends, tape them, then wire again to the bow and viola. You have a very comfortable, yet adjustable wristlet. One end goes into the other, fold over and it will adjust to whatever size she needs.

At slow times, I have the girls make up bows and wristlets for the tub. Of course they are stored under my desk with every thing else. When corsage time comes, it has become so much easier than it used to be. Now we only have a few bows to make for the unusual colors. Oh, we use the #40 wired ribbons-sometimes a couple different colors if we are so inclined.

I have also made a board that we show what our corsages may look like in silk flowers. We tell them that is just an example, because they will all look a bit different. We want them to get an idea of size and variety and also so that they can trust us to just tell us the color of the dress. We give them three prices to choose from. From hearing your price points, I'm beginning to think that we should raise our prices. Ours are $18.95, $22.95 and $24.95. If they want the jewelled or pearl bracelet, we add $20 to the price. We haven't had many takers on that tho.

T
 
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Twila---I love that idea using the wired satin tubing for wristlets!! How ingenious! I can't wait to get to the shop tomorrow to try it and amaze the staff. We've being searching for a way to design an adjustable wristlet that can be used for tiny or very large wrists. Thanks for the tip!
 
I am going to move to more of a combination of both wiring and gluing. I wire and tape because I am fast at it and somehow I have a knack for not making it too bulky. But my staff is another issue and we lose time here, and time is money. Eric has apoint about shoddy corsage work, but I think it's a reflection of talent, not neccessarily technique. The difference in 40 corsages to 400 is huge, and obviously you have to adapt, to quicker more efficient techniques. There are some great tips here, and it doesn't hurt anyone to try something different, especially if it saves you time or money. I'm with Chezbloom, still on that quest for perfection.
 
Twilia,

Do you use the tubette from Lion Ribbon or do you make your own ribbon tubes? I'm trying to repilcate what you are doing but my brain is having a hard time picuturing it ... maybe I need more coffee

Iggy
 
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