New Jersey based Lori Adam and her brother come from a very artistic family. They also love flowers, and in particular orchids!  They must grow a ton of them because their store, LafleurjewelryStudio is full of jewelry - necklaces and earrings - made from a large variety of real orchids. 

I am in awe because I have tried making real orchid resin flower jewelry before and found it difficult. The flowers are incredibly delicate once dried.  I did not succeed.

Lori explained in detail how they dry and then resin up the orchids. They use toothpicks placed in the center of the flowers to make handling easier :
Then flowers are put in plastic boxes and covered completely in dry silica gel powder. The boxes are then closed and left for about 10 days. Some orchids flowers are dehydrated through liquid preservation gel which is made from alcohol (different orchid flowers require different chemicals to preserve the flower colors, some flowers can lose their colors in silica gel).
Getting the silica gel off requires a careful and delicate touch. The flowers are acrylic sprayed and undergo several dips in polyester resin with drying in between.

They certainly know what they are doing because their jewelry is just gorgeous. The orchid colors and shapes are preserved to be admired by all! These make beautiful perfect gifts for gardeners and nature lovers or as loving presents which will never wilt.











Unusual Orchids

Orchids can be found all over the world, in almost every habitat, except glaciers. The richest diversity is found in the tropics. Along with the asters, orchids are one of the two largest groups of flowering plants. 28,000 currently accepted species, distributed in about 763 genera.

Many orchids have fragrances, although not all are pleasant. Our favorite culinary flavoring, vanilla, is obtained from the orchid genus, Vanilla. Orchids hybridize easily so many orchid enthusiasts cross-pollinate and propagate species hoping to get new hybrids -  these now number at least 200,000 species!

There are about 20-26 native genera in North America.  I spotted this native Large Yellow Lady Slipper Orchid growing wild in an Ontario campground last summer. It's well named because it does look like a slipper.


Watch this video by ZoneA on 10 Weird Looking Orchids from around the world. 


Before You Go :

Disclosure 

This blog may contain affiliate links. I do receive a small fee for any products purchased through affiliate links. This goes towards the support of this blog and to provide resource information to readers. The opinions expressed are solely my own. They would be the same whether or not I receive any compensation. 
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Original Post by THE BEADING GEM