5 Expert Tips for Making Faux Flowers Look Real
Faux flowers are more natural than ever these days. While made of different materials, they perfectly replicate natural flowers, so it’s almost impossible to tell the difference at first glance. However, learning how to make faux flowers look real isn’t all about their quality, but also about how you arrange them too.
As a general rule of thumb, faux flowers look real when they perfectly replicate nature. Therefore, it’s not just about their looks, color or brightness, but also about the fluff, the way they sit and the style. With this thought in mind, here’s how to make faux flowers look real without too much effort and give your home a fresh feel.
- Bend and Unfurl Everything
When you order online, chances are your artificial flowers that look real might be squashed to save space during transit. Even if you buy from a local shop, transportation won’t always keep them in the best possible shape or condition.
Nothing to worry about though. Before placing them in the desired space, make sure you arrange them in a natural way. Bend the stems gently to make them look natural. Unroll their leaves as well. As for the petals, make sure to unfurl them to restore their intended volume.
The idea is to make them look natural, rather than perfect. Flowers aren’t perfect, so they shouldn’t be perfectly flat. Give them a natural appearance, so keep them organized, but with imperfect small details. That’s what makes the difference.
- Flex Petals Naturally
Go around your area, take a walk and take a look at the flowers. If you’re not sure how to flex petals naturally, look at the natural alternatives. Take peonies or roses, for example. Look at natural flowers, and you’ll see that their outer petals tend to curl back a little. It’s just what they look like in a natural state.
From this point of view, if you’re not sure how to make faux flowers look real, you’ll need to curl your petals in the exact same manner. Florists refer to this form of curl as reflexing. This way, your plants will look full, mature, and incredibly realistic.
Keeping all petals perfectly flat or straight indicates an unnatural feel, so most people will be able to tell that your plants are faux. Bending them slightly outwards will make them appear more mature and natural.
- Water Makes Things Look Real
This idea doesn’t work for all kinds of faux flowers though. For example, if you have faux flowers in pots, you won’t really be able to make them look natural with water. Furthermore, this idea only applies to stems of flowers, rather than plants or trees.
So, if you stick a few flower stems in a vase for a nice centerpiece display, a bit of water at the bottom will make them look more natural. After all, who would put faux flowers in water? If the vase is transparent, three inches of water are usually enough to create a convincing illusion.
Make sure the faux stems are made of plastic or other materials that won’t rust. If they have wires inside, chances are they’ll rust with time. Plus, the rust will show. There is, however, one way to prevent this. Coat the bottom with waterproof floral tape and you’ll be fine.
- Dealing with Fake Stems
For faux flowers to look real, everything should look real. This isn’t just about the color, leaves or actual flowers, but also about the stems. Unfortunately, some manufacturers don’t pay attention to this element, so you may have to work on it to disguise those telltale signs.
Unnatural plastic stalks are some of the first signs that your plants are artificial. Fortunately, you can change this.
If you keep your faux flowers in a vase, try to get an opaque one. Whether made of ceramic or stone, these materials help hide the stems completely from view. If you like glass, at least opt for textured or tinted glass that hides the appearance of the stems while still letting the light filter through beautifully.
- No Straight Lines
If you’ve ever had a natural garden, received natural flowers or seen natural flowers in their habitat, you’ve probably noticed that nothing in nature is perfectly straight. It’s a small detail that plenty of people overlook, but you need to pay attention to it when you’re not sure how to make faux flowers look real.
This means that you’ll have to slightly bend wires inside the stems. Some flowers should stand upright. Others should be leaning in one direction. Some flowers could droop slightly, such as tulips. It depends on what you get.
The idea is simple to understand here. When you invest in faux flowers, try to learn more about their natural alternatives too. No matter what flowers you get, look at pictures in their natural habitat too, only to style them accordingly and capture their authentic posture.
Bottom line, learning how to make faux flowers look real isn’t that difficult if you understand nature. From many perspectives, this is about styling them according to their natural alternatives, but also about making them look less perfect. With just a few minutes of shaping work, you can elevate inexpensive stems into a stunning display that lasts forever.
