Artificial Flowers Add A Beautiful Touch

by: Jennifer Tyler

It's hard to beat a vase of freshly cut flowers but it's not easy to have them year 'round - luckily there's a nice alternative. Artificial flowers have greatly improved in quality over the years. They brighten up restaurants and hotel lobbies and bring a splash of color to our homes during the bleak, winter season.

It's an ancient tradition in some cultures and arranging sprays was once revered as a skilled craft. Materials used in the past would be almost unaffordable today. The Romans used gold and silver, the Italians used silkworm cocoons and bird feathers were used in South America.

Although the modern industry began in Italy, it was the French who made it popular in the 18th century. From there it gained favor across the rest of Europe and America. Today, it's big business and most artificial flowers are produced using mass production manufacturing methods. There are still some producers however, who follow the traditional, hand made processes.

The plastic varieties that we're all familiar with are made through the process of injection molding. This produces mass quantities and is the only method that results in identical flowers.

In the past, the plastic material these flowers were made of looked fake and cheap - but the material has improved by leaps and bounds. Some plastic flowers are extremely hard to distinguish from the real thing nowadays. I've been fooled plenty of times.

Other more individually skilled processes include clay flowers. This method uses a paste of powdered clay and water, which the modeler then uses to shape the flowers. There are also soap flowers. Colored soap is put through a lathe and shaped with a chisel.

The end product is very precise. Another soap method uses soap without oil, which is ground into a paste. This is shaped and then embossed into the required designs by hand. It's a very time consuming and expensive way of processing artificial flowers.

Arrangements made from cloth or paper are among the most popular. These artificial flowers have a soft texture and subtle colors. This process is done largely by hand, starting with cutting the material into shape. The petals and leaves are perfected, dyed, assembled and then carefully mounted on wire.

Whichever method is used, there will always be a place for beautiful artificial flowers. And there seems to be more acceptance of them nowadays. One thing you don't get with these flowers, however, is the wonderful fragrance - I guess you'll just have to get by with artificial fragrant spray. At least you don't have to worry about watering them or the presence of bugs though.

Jennifer Tyler is a freelance writer who enjoys researching and writing about arts, crafts and decorating.