Community Theater Green Room Discussion Board: thousands of fake flowers!!!!

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lottigam
Walk-On
Walk-On

Joined: 9/01/09
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2

Topic: thousands of fake flowers!!!!
Posted: 12/29/10 at 10:32am

Hi all, for the next show, the Winter's Tale, I need to make a 16'x20' flower carpet. Plus I need 5 plastic bins full of artificial flowers, and replace one each show for 20 runs. This means that I need thousands and thousands of flowers. I cannot afford buying such an amount of flowers....so do you have any suggestions on a cheap and quick way to make fake flowers?
Thank you very much

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vickifrank
Celebrity

Joined: 9/21/07
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 332

Posted: 12/30/10 at 9:39am

For the carpet: You could print or stencil the carpet...pehaps adding a few flowers/petals on top to make the rest look textural and dimensional. (I have a scraped printed piece in red that could be used as the base for stencil if you are going for roses--its red).

For the bins: Don't funeral parlors/hospitals sometimes donate the flowers after viewings/stays? Perhaps you use real from various parlors/hospitals

_____________

http://www.studio-productions-inc.com
1-800-359-2964

The theater scrim people

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gelcat
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Joined: 6/12/09
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 106

Posted: 1/12/11 at 9:57am

man, I can't remember how to make them, but I used to make flowers out of kleenex/tissue paper and tied off with pipe cleaners or wire twist ties - they ended up looking like carnations or mums

Everyone make flowers!

I don't understand where you are losing flowers as I don't know the show- why are you unable to recover the flowers?

www.actorsguildonline.org
Actors Guild of Parkersburg
Parkersburg, WV

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lottigam
Walk-On
Walk-On

Joined: 9/01/09
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2

Posted: 1/12/11 at 11:34am

Thank you very much for your reply! Unfortunately I talked to the set designer/director and he really would like to use either fabric or plastic flowers.
He does not want "handmade" flowers either! So what I tried to do is using a website called globalsources.com (which is very similar to alibaba.com but, in my opinion, better organized) which helps you to find chinese companies that makes artificial flowers (or thousands of other things) and that are willing to work with you. I am finalizing with them in these days and they all have been very fast and detailed in the email exchange. On average the price for 4000 fabric flowers is $250 + shipping.

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edh915
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Joined: 11/19/09
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 325

Posted: 1/12/11 at 12:59pm

If this is Shakespeare's "Winter's Tale", then I can guarantee you that good old Will didn't have thousands of flowers, fake or otherwise, strewn all over the stage of the Globe Theater. I think your set designer/director needs a lesson or two in the "less is more" school of theatre. But then, he/she is the boss, so I guess you're stuck. Glad the Chinese came to your rescue.

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Props, Scenery, Costumes and Makeup
Community Theater Green Room Discussion Board :Producing Theater :Props, Scenery, Costumes and Makeup

Author	Message
lottigam Walk-On Joined: 9/01/09 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 2	Topic: thousands of fake flowers!!!! Posted: 12/29/10 at 10:32am
	Hi all, for the next show, the Winter's Tale, I need to make a 16'x20' flower carpet. Plus I need 5 plastic bins full of artificial flowers, and replace one each show for 20 runs. This means that I need thousands and thousands of flowers. I cannot afford buying such an amount of flowers....so do you have any suggestions on a cheap and quick way to make fake flowers? Thank you very much

	IP Logged

vickifrank Celebrity Joined: 9/21/07 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 332	Posted: 12/30/10 at 9:39am
	For the carpet: You could print or stencil the carpet...pehaps adding a few flowers/petals on top to make the rest look textural and dimensional. (I have a scraped printed piece in red that could be used as the base for stencil if you are going for roses--its red). For the bins: Don't funeral parlors/hospitals sometimes donate the flowers after viewings/stays? Perhaps you use real from various parlors/hospitals
	_____________ http://www.studio-productions-inc.com 1-800-359-2964 The theater scrim people
	IP Logged

gelcat Celebrity Joined: 6/12/09 Online Status: Offline Posts: 106	Posted: 1/12/11 at 9:57am
	man, I can't remember how to make them, but I used to make flowers out of kleenex/tissue paper and tied off with pipe cleaners or wire twist ties - they ended up looking like carnations or mums Everyone make flowers! I don't understand where you are losing flowers as I don't know the show- why are you unable to recover the flowers?
	www.actorsguildonline.org Actors Guild of Parkersburg Parkersburg, WV
	IP Logged

lottigam Walk-On Joined: 9/01/09 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 2	Posted: 1/12/11 at 11:34am
	Thank you very much for your reply! Unfortunately I talked to the set designer/director and he really would like to use either fabric or plastic flowers. He does not want "handmade" flowers either! So what I tried to do is using a website called globalsources.com (which is very similar to alibaba.com but, in my opinion, better organized) which helps you to find chinese companies that makes artificial flowers (or thousands of other things) and that are willing to work with you. I am finalizing with them in these days and they all have been very fast and detailed in the email exchange. On average the price for 4000 fabric flowers is $250 + shipping.
	IP Logged

edh915 Celebrity Joined: 11/19/09 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 325	Posted: 1/12/11 at 12:59pm
	If this is Shakespeare's "Winter's Tale", then I can guarantee you that good old Will didn't have thousands of flowers, fake or otherwise, strewn all over the stage of the Globe Theater. I think your set designer/director needs a lesson or two in the "less is more" school of theatre. But then, he/she is the boss, so I guess you're stuck. Glad the Chinese came to your rescue.
	IP Logged