Hello lovely lions! I am here to offer one of my favorite floral accents for your viewing pleasure: decorative wire!

I am a deco wire fiend. Ever since I got my first taste of the stuff in my basic floral design elective in 2004 (before I changed majors to floral management from meteorology), I was in love. For years, drab green wire has only been used as a mechanic, always meant to be covered up. You would layer colored floral tape, glue moss, or tack floral materials over the top to prevent anyone from seeing the wire. Now, you can have visually appealing mechanics, decorative accents, or (my dream) an entire arrangement made out of nothing but decorative wire and painted foliages. Said dream will be materializing over a five part blog series starting in December…stay tuned!

Anyway, let me introduce you to three different types of deco wire; 28 gauge bullion, 24 gauge Metallic, and 12 gauge Metallic. Each has their own usage in designs, but push your creative envelope! The design pictures used in this blog are of my work; please don’t steal designs! Use them for inspiration.

28 Gauge Bullion Wire

This is a florist’s best friend when it comes to accenting designs. 28 refers to the gauge of the wire; the smaller the number, the thicker the wire. 28 is a very slender wire and is mostly used for wrapping stems, wrapped around bouquets for a little sparkle, stringing blooms together to provide movement, and (one of my favorites) for strengthening an armature.

This little guy is an armature/decorative accent for a corsage, but it could easily stand alone as a flower. The fine silver wire is the bullion, wrapped over a 18 gauge black wire frame. Imagine using these floating in a low dish with candles instead of orchid blooms!

24 Gauge Metallic

Moving on up the thickness spectrum, there’s 24 gauge metallic wire. This easily replaces traditional green wire for use as anchoring, wrapping stems, and adding just a little sparkle to a design. A popular trend in centerpieces is using leaves swirled in a vase to provide some interest down below the arrangement. The deco wire could be used instead!

My mom is just as much of a deco wire nut as I am! Her birthday was a few weeks ago, and we threw her a black and pink themed party. If you’ll look, there’s bright pink 28 gauge wire floating in the vase along with our next deco entry, the 12 gauge black wire. It’s not only a mechanic for the stems, but some really great visual interest below.

12 Gauge Metallic

Up until a couple of years ago, this was the thickest wire you could possibly get in metallic colors. I’m eagerly awaiting my “mega wire” shipment from Smithers Oasis to play with it. You can use this wire for so many different things! You’ve seen above how it can be used as a vase anchor, but below is my favorite use of the product.

Gorgeous, no? This bad boy was part of my senior seminar runway show on floral fashion. Jena Oh, one of my counterparts from MSU created the armature for a competition and allowed me to use the concept for my work. Instead of the composite bouquet she put down in it, I created a duchess rose from a dozen sunset-colored roses by gluing the petals in a radial form. Imagine carrying this down the aisle instead of a dozen hand-tied roses. Talk about impact and beauty!

So, my lovely lions, I leave you with a challenge: imagine wire as a decorative tool, not just a mechanic. Push the envelope between organic and inorganic materials!

Until next time, with love;

Amanda

floral + ambiance lioness

we are excited to have amanda join our team!

say hi: eustoma.grandiflora@gmail.com