kim's kitchen

Make these beautiful poppies out of wafer paper

By KIM M. SIMONS
Posted 10/21/20

I practically grew up in the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW). My father, Jack Simons, was a decorated Korean War Vet—and, later, VFW State Commander—who was largely responsible for …

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kim's kitchen

Make these beautiful poppies out of wafer paper

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I practically grew up in the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW). My father, Jack Simons, was a decorated Korean War Vet—and, later, VFW State Commander—who was largely responsible for starting the Clarence Hoyt VFW Post in Liberty, NY. My father and my mother, Carol, were pillars of the post, and I spent a lot of nights there waitressing, bartending and busing tables.

You probably know that poppies have been long associated with war veterans. According to Sarah Pruitt on www.history.com, this began after the Second Battle of Ypres in 1915 when Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae wrote the poem “In Flanders Field.”

“He channeled the voice of the fallen soldiers buried under those hardy poppies,” Pruitt notes in “The WWI Origins of the Poppy as a Remembrance Symbol.”

It’s because of my connection to veterans and the VFW that I thought making poppies out of edible wafer paper might be a fun and educational project this November. The poppies you create can be cake toppers or can stand beautifully alone should you so choose.

What, exactly, is wafer paper you might ask? According to www.opperoo.com, “Wafer paper (also known as rice paper) is a starch-based material, made from potato or rice starches. It is a stiff but slightly transparent material, with some of the thicker sheets measuring up to 0.6mm in thickness. This means it generally maintains its shape unless exposed to a large amount of liquid when it starts to dissolve. Common ingredients are dehydrated potato starch, oil and water.”

A prime benefit of wafer paper is that it is easy to work with and can be printed on with edible ink!

I hope you enjoy creating these beautiful, easy-to-make poppies. And if so doing you decide to honor veterans as well, so much the better.

Materials needed.

Cut wire with wire cutters to your desired length. Using the thin pliers, bend the tip.

Make a small ball (about a quarter-inch) and place on the end of the wire where you bent the tip. Secure in place by squeezing near the bottom.

Using your X-Acto knife, make crosshairs in the gumpaste for the center of the flower.

Using a SmArt Sheet and some black powder, paint a small area for the center of the flower. Let dry.

Cut a strip about a half-inch wide and 5-inches long from the painted SmArt Sheet.. Using scissors, cut slices a half-inch wide all the way down the strip; do not cut all the way through.

Paint the gumpaste center green; let dry.

Using some piping gel, wrap the painted and cut SmArt Sheet piece around the center of the gumpaste flower; let dry.

Using red wafer paper, fold a piece almost in half (the long way) about 2/3-inches. Cut off excess. Fold three times.

Using your scissors, cut red wafer paper into petals.

Using Paper Potion, spray one side of a petal. Lay an 18-gauge piece of wire in between two petals and connect.

Using red petal dust, paint your petal veiner on both sides. Stick your wafer paper petal in between, and "squish" to add texture.

Put your petal on foam; using a wooden dowel, work in some more texture.

Lay your petal on a piece of foil (shaped the way you want it) to dry.

When petals are dry, add them to the centerpiece one by one using a little bit of piping gel. Wrap the wire down the stem. Use 4-to-6 petals on each flower

veterans, poppy

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