JapaneseSilkFlower employs traditional Japanese methods in the creation of our kanzashi. All of our hair ornaments are made of silk and are hand-dyed. The silk is starched to the stiffness of paper and cut into small square pieces. Each piece is hand folded into a single petal using sharp tweezers and "pinched" in the traditional tsumami method. The petals are aligned on a flat board which is covered with our traditional recipe of rice glue. Each silk petal is mounted on stiff card stock and carefully shaped into a desired form. Some petals are individually hand-painted. A single flower may contain from five to sixty-plus petals. Silver-plated wire is used to support the flowers, which are gathered into a lovely bouquet. Handcrafting hair ornaments in this fashion is time-consuming and labor-intensive. However, it is our pleasure to employ such traditional methods to enable the creation of exquisite, finely-detailed kanzashi. We seek to honor our Japanese ancestry by bringing awareness and appreciation of this aspect of Japanese culture, history and beauty to the world.