Wild Orchid Crafts Haul and Review

Hello everyone!

 

Ever have that dreadful feeling or moment when you were working on a major craft/deco project and then you slowly realize that you no longer have those specific pieces/items? Actually it doesn't even have to be that, it could be just some missing certain pieces in general that are usually crucial in any project. For me, that specific piece would be the rose. If you had dabbled long enough in the Himegyaru style and for the sake of this post I'm going to assume that you have, you would've slowly realized how much this type of flower has been incorporated into the style. They are everywhere! Bags, headpieces, accessories, jewelry, shoes (especially the shoes), and well...you get the message...

Now you are probably wondering where I am going with this. Is this suppose to be a moral life story regarding the People's Ethical Treatment of Roses or PETR, and that we should treat them better? Actually, no it isn't! (though there is no doubt that roses are very important and care should be taken to keep them blooming all season) What this post is about, if you had already read the title, is basically a haul and review on a lovely quaint web shop that I had found one day called Wild Orchid Crafts.

Anyway, I'm not sure how everyone did it or managed, but I cannot seem to find any good roses that I can use in craft/deco projects in any of the stores near me. It could be just me or it could be my lousy luck when it comes to flowers in general. Now before anyone asks, I did check the dollar store for any of those cheap bouquet roses and the material used to make the rose petals seems to be a bit off for me. The feel of the petals seems to have a gritty smoothness reminiscent to that of acetate ribbon. So day after day, I seem to be out of luck when it comes to roses, having to resort to using only bows and lace for any potential hime project that I had partaken in.

One day I had stumbled across a Youtube video. It was basically about a haul of craft roses that were purchased from a website called I Am Roses. Being rather intrigued, I had clicked on the link in the description bar and it had led me to what seems to be a rose paradise! Roses were sold by the literal handful in a variety of colours and sizes, so you could imagine how pleasantly surprised I was. Just as I was about to place my order, I suddenly came across Wild Orchid Crafts via online word of mouth. Eventually, I then decided to purchase from WOC instead, since I felt that their roses were more cheaper along with the web shop having more variety of other items, such as cameos, laces, etc. As for the rest, I believe that is history.

*Just a short note, I don't tend to review or go over crafts stuff since I find that the actual stuff varies among person to person depending on the location and the type of stores available. However, since this is an online website and is accessible to almost everyone, I decided to do a review and haul post. 

Actual Review

Website and Ordering Process

When you first go to their website, generally the first thing that you will definitely see are pictures of realistic looking roses. What I find regarding the website is that the format is clear and concise. There are no overflowing blocks of words crowding up the pages, and basic information such as about the company and shipping are found at the top instead of typically at the bottom like other websites. I find this very convenient since I usually have a difficult time finding the shipping information in particular when browsing around on other e-shops. Shipping information that I could not find at all were either not on the website or stated in a vague way. One thing that I had noticed while browsing around was that the menu categories tend to repeat for certain menu buttons. I assume that they did that so to make the search process easier. 

The ordering process is simple and clear enough, and goes through the same standard "cart" system that every other website has in place. It took me a while to place the order however, since I got overwhelmed by the large variety that was available while trying to lower the max spending amount (Note: some serious decision making was involved). Overall, I had paid around $58 for the whole order, including shipping (which was around $4). It may sound very pricey for just a bunch of roses used for craft work, but that was somewhat mellowed out by the sheer amount of roses that you get per bundle. (ex: 10 or 25 for 40mm, 50 for 30mm, 100 for 10mm, etc.) In addition, you don't have to pay over $10 for each bundle of flowers, which I find awesome. Now they do occasionally have sales just like any other store, but they tend to be a few far and between. I had placed this order during the time when they had a 10% off sale on every item in their shop. One unfortunate thing that I did noticed while adding things to the cart was that the nicer rose colours tend to be sold out quicker than other rose colours.       

Transit Time and Delivery

After placing my order, it felt like I only have to wait less than a week before my package arrived at my door. Basically, it arrived very quickly.

When the package arrived, it was well wrapped. Each of the bundles of roses were wrapped in plastic and the whole package was wrapped in bubble wrap. Wrapping was very secure. 

Product
The roses are (understandably) very pretty. The roses are made out of mulberry paper, but they did not budge when I had pressed down on them, hence they are very stable as well and probably are going to be long-lasting. The quality of the roses are "top-notch" and even when looking at the roses through the plastic, I can clearly see the amount of effort that was put into making the roses look realistic. Surprisingly enough, I got a free gift with my order, which I felt was a nice addition and because of this action, I will give them a good rating for service along with the secure package wrapping.

Now with the review done, here's my haul:   

        

Overall, I am satisfied with the roses and the service, and will definitely be ordering from Wild Orchid Crafts again. I would highly recommend this shop if you are thinking of getting roses in bulk or large quantities. Here is the link to their web shop:

Wild Orchid Crafts: http://www.wildorchidcrafts.com/us/index.php?main_page=index