How To Make A Gum Paste Peony (Part 1)

I know that a lot of you have asked if I could make a tutorial on how to make my gum-paste peony flowers, so here’s a little treat for you. I hope you’ll appreciate it.

Materials Used

Set 1

• Gum paste (white or colored pink in your chosen color. You would also need a little green gum paste if you decide to make peony buds)
• Rolling pin
• Peony petal cutters:
• Colette Peters
• Sunflower Sugar Art
• Special petal veiner:
• Peony flower veiner
• Round Styrofoam balls 1 1/2″ or smaller for peony buds
• #20 gauge wire
• #24/26 gauge wire

Set 2

• Green floral tape
• Craft glue
• Chocolate egg mold
• Apple foam trays (you can get those at your local grocery store)
• Powdered food colors (Matching the color of the gum paste. Remember green color for buds)
• Cornstarch
• Brushes (for coloring the peony and for the tylo glue)
• Ball tool
• Foam pad

Set 3

• Small pieces of foam/paper
• A square piece of thin flexible foam about 6″x6″
• A large piece of styrofoam/cake dummy
• Tall drinking glass
• Plastic bag/zipper bag (stops the petals from drying, while you work)
• Cel board
• 5 petal flower cutter (1″ or a little bigger)

• Peony Cutters

I have used a set of peony cutters from Colette Peters, for this tutorial. There is a great selection of different peony cutters on the market. So use the ones you like the best. You can, however, depending on how big you want your peony flower to be, mix the peony petal cutters and in that way, get an even more personal peony flower. The choice is yours when you pick your favored preference.

Steps in Making Gum Paste Peony (Part 1)

• Cut three pieces of #20 gauge wire. It should be long enough so that you can bend the end, when you need to hang the peony, upside down while drying. You can always trim the length when you are finished with the flower.
• Wrap some green floral tape tightly around the wires. Starting about 1/2″ down. Next dip the end of the wires, in some craft glue, and insert the wire into the 1 1/2″ styrofoam ball. Make sure, that you don’t push it all the way through the styro ball. You should be stopping where the floral tape starts.

Note: As you may have noticed. I do not have any floral tape on my wire. Somehow I was not able to find my floral tape, so that’s why I used a piece of gauge wire instead. I will replace the photo when I have found the lost floral wire.

• Knead the gum paste pliable and roll it out to about 1-2mm thickness. Take the smallest peony cutter (1) and cut out 8 petals. Place them in the plastic bag as you cut them.

Molding of Peony Petals

• Take the “peony flower veiner“.
• Lightly dust with a little cornstarch and place a petal at the bottom of the veiner. Remember to place the “front” of the petal down towards the veiner.
• Now rub your finger with a little cornstarch and gently push the petal into the veiner. Be careful not to push too hard or you may ruin the petal.
• Gently lift off the petal and turn it over. Your petal should now look, just like the petal on the photo.
• Place it back in the plastic bag and continue with the rest of the small petals.

• Take your foam pad and the ball tool. Place a petal, backside up, and gently start to frill/thin the edge of the petal. Frill only the top half of the petal. Again place them in the plastic bag as you go.
• Note: Decide for yourself how frilly you want the petals to be. Just be careful, not to tear the edge of the petal when you use the ball tool.

• Take the styro ball and 2 petals. Brush a little glue on the back of the petals and place the petals, so that they overlap the top of the ball.

Steps in Making Gum Paste Peony (Part 2)

• Brush tylo glue on the rest of the petals and arrange the remaining 6 petals around the styro ball. Make sure that you do not cover the top of the peony. You should be able to see the first 2 petals.
• Set aside the styro ball in a large piece of styrofoam and move on to step 7.

• Take the chocolate egg mold and lightly dust it with a little cornstarch. Then roll out more gum paste and take the next size peony cutter (2) and cut out 8-10 petals.
• Repeat steps 3 to 4, but instead of placing the petals in the plastic bag.
• Place the petals in the chocolate egg mold, and backside up.
• Let them slightly dry for 20-30 minutes.

Tip: If you only have a mold for 8 eggs and need more molds. Then, make your own mold by pressing 5-10 sheets of foil over the egg shells. Voila! a quick and easy homemade mold.

Drying of Peony Petals

• When the petals have slightly dried, brush a little glue on the back and arrange all the petals so they overlap around the styro ball.
• Take the peony and gently press it into your cupped hand, to shape the petals. They should slightly bend towards the center.
• Note: In the photo, the petals have not been “cupped” with my hand.

• Hang the peony upside down, in a safe place (away from cats and kids), and let it dry overnight.

• This is how it looks when it has dried overnight.

Are you searching for any more tips or tricks for creating gum-paste flowers? We have a great basic flower tutorial course you need to try out so you can become an expert in fondant flowers. The course is very thorough and informative and has helped many already! Don’t miss it!

Fondant Flower Course

Go to How to make a gum paste peony: Part 2.

You can also visit my tutorial section if you want to learn how to make other gum-paste flowers and decorations. Or you might wanna check out other related articles like Lots Of Gum Paste Flowers, My Gum Paste Helpers, Gum Paste Rose Tutorial, and more.