The most inexpensive and readily available wire to use for armatures is dark annealed steel wire available in hardware stores. This wire is easy to bend, wrap or coil while retaining enough rigidity to provide a structure. In this example the wire shapes are covered with plaster gauze and then painted after drying, but these wire shapes could also be covered with many of the other clay alternatives described in this book.
The finer the wire, the larger the gauge will be. For the project shown, 19-gauge wire was used.
STEP ONE: Twist wire into shapes to make your form (in this case, flower petals).
STEP TWO: Wrap the forms with small strips of wet plaster gauze.
STEP THREE: Let the wrapped forms (petals attached to a stem) dry.
STEP FOUR: Paint the flower forms using acrylic paint.
STEP FIVE: Cut a piece of florist’s foam to fit a small flowerpot, using a serrated knife. Glue the foam into the pot with premium crafter’s white glue. Stick the flower stems into the floral foam, then pull them out of the foam. Apply glue to the ends of the stems and put them back in the holes in the foam. Add moss if desired and glue into place.