The Basics of Sola Wood Flowers: Everything You Need to Know

​ Anatomy of Sola Wood Flowers
The famous sola wood flower is actually a plant with a botanical name called Aeschynomene aspera. In more common words, the plant is referred as sola or shola. It is a wild plant grown in marshy areas. 
One interesting fact about the sola wood plant is that it has the lightest color amongst all woods out there.
The bark of the wood is taken off from the plant to expose a creamy and cork like center. The middle part of this unique plant is sliced into thin sheets. These wooden pieces are used to create sola wood flowers. Since, these sheets are thin; they can easily be molded into flowers. 
Now, you must be wondering that how is the flower actually made? Let us tell you that each sola wood tree is crafted with hand! Yes, there are no machines involved. Each piece is delicately shaped to form gorgeous decorative flowers. 
Most of the sola wood flowers have one color, but this wood has an interesting quality to give two tone effects as well.  For some depth in the wood flowers, a lot of times the bark is not removed while making the sheets. It adds a layer like skin on the flower which is used to give a contrasting tone to the flowers.
Shaping the Beauty
These amazing beauties make an excellent alternative to fresh flowers. The best thing about them is that they can easily be shaped into petals, forming gorgeous flowers. Sola wood is shaped into delicate petals of varying combination of shapes and patterns for garlands, vases centerpieces and even wedding bouquets. The beauty of these flowers is that each flower is one of a kind. They are hand crafted into perfection with numerous variations and imperfections, because of the handwork. The end result of each flower is quite raw but looks real!
Shaping the sola wood flowers is really easy! All you need is water at room temperature and a steamer. It’s okay if you don’t want to invest in a steamer. This particular method is super fun, but you can do without it too.
Flowers, Squished?
Sometimes, just sometimes the flowers can get squished! It can happen during the crafting phase, delivery or overtime. But, don’t worry. We have got you covered! In case your lovely sola wooden flowers get deformed all you have to do is have some time on your hand. 
Each flower has multiple layers of petals and that makes it easy for you to reshape them again. This process is called fluffing.
Now Let’s Get Fluffing!
If the flowers have lost their shape over time or you don’t find them perfect then here is what you have to do: 
Reshape the flowers back to perfection. To start, you need a small bowl and some warm water. 

1. Pour some warm tap water in a small bowl. Remember you don’t need a lot of it.
2. Now dip the flower in the warm water. The trick is to only wet the flower. So don’t go overboard and soak the water completely. 
3. Start pulling the petals backs a bit, layer by layer. This will fluff out the flower, making it look bigger and fuller. Remember to start from the outer layers and work your way to the innermost layers.
4. Leave the flowers to dry for about 12 to 24 hours to make sure that they are completely dry before you arrange them in floral arrangements.

Stemming the Wood Flowers
All the sola wood flowers don’t come with stems. So, if you are creating a floral arrangement for a centerpiece or bouquet, you will most likely want to add a stem. It is super easy and simple! All you need is a wire (18 or 20 gauge) and a hot glue gun.
Once you have the stuff on hand, move on to adding stems! Here’s how you do it:

1. Cut out wires, depending on how tall you want the stems to be.
2. Then poke a hole at the bottom of the flower to insert the wire. You can either use a sharp object to make a hole or the wire itself. Just to make it extra secure, put some hot glue at the tip of the wire before inserting it in.

That is it! You are done stemming the flowers.


Uncurling Sola Wood Flowers
Sometimes the flowers un-curl as soon as you dip them in the dye. There are simple tips and tricks that you can try to curl the petals back. It is a bit of extra work and time as there are a couple of steps involved. 
If you have worked with sola wood flowers, then you must know that the flowers un-curl right after they are dipped in wet paint. So, what you have to do next is quite simple. 

• Grab some containers that are lying around the house. They can be anything from plastic jars, paper cups, mugs to disposable egg trays. So, collect them all! 
• Now just to be sure that the petals don’t un-curl again, grab some toothpicks too.

After you dip the flowers in paint, grab a petal from its outer edge and roll it around the toothpick. Hold the petal in that state for a few minutes. Slowly, work your way to the petals inside. 
Pro Tip: If you think that the petals are drying, then dip your finger in wet paint and rub it gently on the corners so they fold easily around the toothpick.
Now, place the flower in the collected vessels. You need something that is neither too small nor too big. The vessel needs to be tight enough to keep the curls intact. Before placing the flowers in, make sure that you curl them. The delicate curls should be pointing upwards so they dry up in that position. 
Pro Tip: For small flowers, disposable egg tray works best. It can hold multiple flowers at the same time. For large flowers you can use mugs or paper cups. 
Fun Projects with Sola Wood Flowers
There are so many exciting and crafty project that you can do with sola wood. We are not just talking stemming or dying them. You can create arrangements for something like:

• Wedding bouquets
• Wreaths
• Centerpieces
• Garlands
• Baby mobile
• Jewelry 
• Corsage
• Floral crowns
• Wall décor
• Holiday ornaments

These are just basic stuff. You can do so much with your own creativity! The most popular one is the wedding bouquet.
The Famous Wedding Bouquet
Fresh flowers are really expensive so the best way to save up on the cost on weddings is to replace them with sola wood flowers. The most common demand for flowers on weddings is for the bouquets and we all know that they are not cheap at all. But, with sola wood flowers you can save a fortune! 
Before starting, you need to have a rough idea on the size of flowers and the style that you want. Here are some of our suggestions:

• Small bouquet - 30 sola flowers in 2" sizes
• Medium bouquet- 27 sola wood flowers ranging in 2-3" sizes
• Large bouquet (around 12" in circumference) - 48 wood flowers ranging in 2-3" sizes 

Pro Tip: Buy some extra flowers, especially if you are new to dying. You can definitely use some to practice dying and find the perfect shade.
Art Supplies for Making Sola Wood Flowers
You must be really excited to take on this project. We are as excited as you are! So, here is all the stuff required for making sola wood flowers:

• Craft paint
• Clippers
• Floral foam
• Floral wire
• Floral tape
• Hot glue gun
• Silicone mat

1. Craft Paint 

There are a lot of paints that you can use for dying the flowers. But if you are new at this then we recommend sticking to craft paints. They are really cheap and can pay off as a great investment to dye a good number of flowers. 

1. Clippers

You need a good pair of clippers to make them last long. It’s not something that you will be buying all the time. So, it’s wise to spend money on high quality clippers rather just buying a dainty one. You will need them to cut floral wires in order to stem the flowers.

1. Floral Wire

The type of floral wire to use for this project is mainly based on preference. We recommend using either 18 gauge wire as stem for bouquets and vase arrangements. You can also use 20 gauge floral stem for bigger projects. Higher gauge will give you more flexibility. The best way is to play around with different gauges to find which one works best for you. 

1. Floral Foam

You can get a floral foam from any small craft store. This will come in handy for vase arrangements to hold the wires in place. If you don’t like the floral foam to be seen in your arrangements, then cover it with paper or moss. It is completely optional based on your preference. 
Another affordable option is to use crack filler foam. If you use this type of foam, then don’t fill the vase completely as the foam usually expands. 

1. Floral Tape

Floral tape can be of a great use in hand bouquets. Tie all the stems together by wrapping a floral tape around them.

1. Hot Glue Gun

Hot glue gun is the best option to make your stems extra secure. Now there are tons of good brands out there for hot glue them. You can use any one of them. Just make sure that the glue gun has a high temperature setting to make the flowers extra durable. Lower temperatures can also work, but it’s best to be safe and sure that the stems are securely glue to the flowers. 

1. Silicone mat

A silicone mat is completely optional, but it can really come in handy most of the times. 
Hot glue tends to drip here and there while working and it’s difficult to scratch it off after drying. But you can easily peel off the glue from a silicone mat. You don’t have to clean the mess from your surfaces and the mat can be used again and again for years. So, it’s better to buy one for projects like these. 
Bonus Supplies for Sola Wood Flowers
If you want to flex your creative muscles, then you probably want to invest some more into the supplies. Here are a couple of more options:

• Oven:

The oven can be a life saver! It can be used to dry off flowers when you are working on bigger projects or running out of time. All you have to do is place the flowers in the oven for 5 minutes. You can leave them in for an extra minute or two if they still don’t dry. But, do keep a close eye as the flowers are made from wood and will catch fire if left inside the oven for long. 

• Steamer:

It is a good option for shaping the flowers, but you have to see which brand works best for you. A lot of them in the market tend to spurt water. So, look for a good one before you buy. 

• Airbrush:

Airbrush is a great tool to use on flowers that uncurl after dying. It is a fun tool and makes the flowers look more realistic.
You will make a few errors in the beginning, but will get the hang of it eventually. However; make sure that you clean the airbrush nicely after creating your mess. It is super important!

• Dehydrator:

If you are not sure about the oven, dehydrator for drying flowers is a good option. It is recommended because ovens can start a small fire especially with smaller batches of flowers. 
That is all you have to know about sola wood flowers. We have discussed all the ins and outs! Let us know if you have any more questions! We are really excited for you to try this project. Let us know how it worked out for you.