Florist, Cake Makers Etc Does Anyone Know

[phleb]

Where to buy the sweet tree accessories on the cheap from? i.e dowels, oasis, foam balls, ribbons, plaster of paris (or can I use any plaster ;-), buckets, flowers, etc.

I can make these, but I want to make to sell if possible, and notice once I have bought all equipment, it wont be worth my while to do this as a business, each tree would cost me around 25 - 30 to make, so how much am I supposed to sell for!!

Thanks in advance

[rockyracoon]

Dowels and buckets - Wickes or the like, buy a length and saw down.
Oasis Balls and ribbons etc from a wholesaler - the cheapest ones you won't be able to use as they will probably have strict membership criteria
I can't remember what plaster I used for my flower tope's, but I'd imagine anything that goes hard will do.

This lot are fairly lax with customers

http://www.whittingtons.biz

[rockyracoon]

Don't forget the pots that the tree will stand in, they will probably be the priciest part of the product as I would assume you want something decorative.

[DTCwordfan]

cornish cakeboards for dowels and ribbons - plenty of cheap flowers there too - not real ones - they have a sale of them

[rockyracoon]

Just had a thought, Ikea can be a good source for pots.

[rockyracoon]

Look for cheaper versions of Oasis, if you're not putting fresh flowers in the quality won't matter too much.

[phleb]

rockyracoon you are a stay, i will be looking into this. Any tips would be great. DTC, thank you, i will look into that aswell. x

[phleb]

*star :-)

[rockyracoon]

Hi Phleb, I've been having a think about this, what component is the most expensive part of the tree? £25-30 seems quite steep, are you adding time into the costing?

[phleb]

i paid £20 for dowel, bucket, ribbon, decorative paper, plaster. I paid £5.49 for lollipops. the marshmallows were £3.49 so cheaper. then i checked ebay and saw a ready made tree minus the sweets for £12.50. How did they make it so cheap? i think i need to shop around, they must be buying in bulk from a very cheap place.

How much would you sell a marshmallow tree for? and how much for a lollipop tree?

[rockyracoon]

I didn't do sweet trees Phleb, I did flowers ones when I was floristing :)

I think that's a lot you have paid for the mechanics, you can get a 2400mm length of dowel from Wickes for £2.88, that would get you about 6 trees.

http://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-12mm-Light-Hardwood-Dowel-FB153-2400mm/p/128317

Is some of the stuff good for more trees? The initial outlay can be pricey but the next tree will have more profit as you have most of the stuff. I was having a think about your oasis as it really is a pricey waste as you don't need it for keeping flowers alive, I found these polystyrene balls which are much cheaper and much better suited for your purpose.

http://www.fredaldous.co.uk/polystyrene-balls.html

Check Ikea for plant pots (they look much nicer than those buckets), about £2 each for Papaja ones and they seem to come in a few colours. Try getting ribbon from a £ shop.

If I think of anything else I'll let you know.

[phleb]

rockyracoon, thank you, I didn't even think of wickes until you mentioned it. I am on a mission tomorrow to get the stuff and get the ball rolling lol