Magnolias are a dramatic flower, and making one in wafer paper will let you add a really striking focus flower to your cake. I tested a few ways when I was figuring out how to make a wafer paper magnolia, and these are the tips that I learned along the way. Making a wafer paper magnolia isn’t as easy as a gumpaste one, but the wafer paper’s benefits include being lightweight and fast-drying. Creating a wafer paper cake design isn’t as time-consuming as using gumpaste because you can make a wafer paper flower for a cake decoration and use it the same day. This wafer paper flower tutorial will help you make a pretty floral cake or an elegant floral cake design for a wedding.
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Materials you’ll need:
For this project, you’ll need wafer paper (O grade works fine), 30 gauge white floral wire, 18 gauge green floral wire, vodka, glycerin to make the conditioner, scissors, yellow petal dust or yellow wafer paper for the center, and daisy paper punches for the centers.
The daisy punches are optional, but it makes it faster to cut out the shapes with a lot of little petals.
Wafer paper supply list:
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- Wafer paper (use coupon code REMEMBER10 for a discount on your entire order at Oasis Supply)
- Silicone flower center molds (Amazon)
- Petal veiners (Amazon)
- Petal dust (Oasis Supply)
- Floral wire (Amazon)
- Tylose glue (Oasis)
- Fluffy paintbrushes (Amazon)
- Flower former (Amazon)
- Craft scissors (Amazon)
- Liquid Food Coloring (Amazon)
- Food-grade glycerin to make wafer paper conditioner (Amazon)
- Corn starch (Amazon)
- Flower paper punches (Amazon)
- Steamer to shape wafer paper (Amazon)
Magnolia flower template.
For this flower, you’ll need six large petals and three smaller ones. I didn’t use the middle-sized petals. Depending on the type of magnolia you’re making, you may use different petal shapes, but I’m making a large saucer magnolia, which is common where I live. I used three of the smaller petals (cut 6 out) and 6 of the largest ones (cut 12 out.) I didn’t use the middle-sized ones, those would be for different varieties of magnolias.
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Make the outer petals.
For the wired petals, I used white 30‑gauge floral wire. The reason for choosing white is that wafer paper is transparent enough that you can see the wires through it, and darker wire can show through the petals more.
When attaching the wire, I sprayed the wafer paper with vodka rather than water. Vodka absorbs quickly and dries faster, but you still have to make sure that you don’t use too much or the paper can melt!
Wafer paper has a rough side and a smooth side, and I placed the rough sides together with the wire sandwiched between them. Because I was only using vodka, the wire slipped out easily, but you can just slide it back in. Be sure not to insert the wire more than a couple of inches, since it can show through the back of the petal.
Because the paper was so wet (I put too much vodka on it to begin with,) I cut a small piece of wafer paper and placed it on the back of the petal to cover the wire. This isn’t always necessary, but in this case it helped protect that area. The paper was wet enough that it stuck there without adding more liquid, so that shows that it was too wet and needed the patch. This patch goes on the back, so the front stays smooth, which is important because magnolia petals are large, slightly cupped, and very smooth.
To shape the petals, pinch the base slightly to give them a gentle cupped shape. They don’t need to be dramatically curved at this stage. Because vodka causes the starch in wafer paper to contract as it dries, some natural curving will happen on its own. If the petals curve too much, that can be fixed later when assembling the flower. Go ahead and make six large petals this way.
Make the smaller inner petals.
For the smaller inner petals, I placed the wire farther up the petal because these need to bend around the center of the flower. Magnolias have a very distinctive cone-shaped center filled with lots of stamens, and these inner petals curve closely around it. I kept a photo of a magnolia on my phone as a reference, which is extremely helpful when shaping realistic flowers.
In hindsight, I wouldn’t push the wire quite so far up on these smaller petals. As they dry, the wire can show through the back of the petal, especially when the paper is curved. Wafer paper will hold its shape once it’s bent and dried, even without the wire extending far up, so the wire isn’t really what’s keeping that curve. If I did this again, I’d insert the wire only about an inch or so.
Make the center of the flower.
Magnolias have a very specific type of a center, so this is the thing that “makes” it a magnolia. I tried a few different ways to make a center that looked more realistic and less “fantasy flower,” and I ended up with something between the two.
For the center of the magnolia, I used an 18 gauge green wire that I bent into a small hook on the end and formed a small cone using crumpled wafer paper around the hook as the basic form. I wrapped a strip of wet wafer paper around that to form a cone, and that’s what I built the stamens on.
You could make the center with gumpaste, which works well, but it adds weight. I wanted to keep everything light, so I stuck with wafer paper, even though it would require more drying time. I let the center dry overnight because it was SO wet, and I needed it to be totally dry before steaming it to shape the stamens.
To create the stamens, I used daisy cutters. The bottom layer is white, and the top layer is yellow. I sprayed the daisy shapes on the centers with vodka, folded them slightly, and attached them to the cone so the little petals stick up. This part is messy and time-consuming, and the paper tends to stick to your fingers. Making the center is by far the most time-intensive part of the magnolia, so it’s a good idea to make these ahead of time and have them ready when you need them.
The yellow I used was preprinted wafer paper, and it ended up being a bit brighter than I would prefer. Real magnolias do have very yellow centers, but next time I would dust white wafer paper with yellow petal dust to create a softer tone before cutting out the shapes. After building up the center, I let it dry completely upside down until it was firm and stiff.
Shape the center.
Once dry, I lightly steamed the center and gently bent the edges downward. Magnolia stamens bend outward and away from the center, so this helps create a more natural look. This doesn’t have to be perfect, because much of the center will be partially covered by the inner petals.
Put the flower together.
To assemble the flower, I taped the three smaller inner petals around the center using floral tape, alternating their placement. These petals help frame and partially conceal the center. While this isn’t a botanically perfect replica, it looks convincing enough for a cake, especially when used as a focal flower.
Next, I added the larger petals. Some of these had curled or contracted overnight, which is normal with wafer paper. I chose the flattest ones to place closest to the center.
I used a glycerin and water conditioner to soften the petals, spraying lightly and massaging it in. This rehydrates the wafer paper and allows you to reshape and relax the petals. You do need to be gentle, as the paper can tear if handled too roughly.
I attached the outer petals one at a time, alternating them between the inner petals and taping them securely. Because each petal is individually wired, it’s easy to adjust their position even after everything is taped together.
Once all the petals were attached, I wrapped the wires together, bending the sharp ends inward so nothing pokes out, and covered everything thoroughly with floral tape. If the flower will go into a cake, it’s best to slide a plastic straw over the wire for food safety.
After assembly, I adjusted the petals and trimmed a few that felt too long or pointed. Wafer paper is forgiving in that way—you can cut and reshape it as needed. If the paper feels too crisp, a little conditioner will help before trimming.
The good thing about making wafer paper flowers that are wired is that you can reposition the petals on the cake, and because they’re wafer paper they’re more flexible than gumpaste is. If you want to insert the stems into a cake, make sure to put them into a plastic drinking straw first so that there’s a barrier between the cake and the wire stem. A better option is to not insert the stems into the cake, just bend them up and rest the flowers on the cake.
These are a nice focal flower since they’re so big, and the main thing to pay attention to is the center. The more realistic the center, the more realistic the flower will look. If you put some time into the centers, your flowers will look a lot better.
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