My Creative Workbook

Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

A Gleaming Cotton Christmas

21 December 2016
click to send Christine a smile
and more

Christmas trees all aglow

Stockings are hung with care

Stars brightly gleaming,

children are dreaming

That Santa soon will be there

Snowflakes falling down, on every little town

A blanket of stars above...

Paul Anka - It's Christmas Everywhere (1960)

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Every week I add a new design with related tutorials. Be sure to subscribe to receive an email notification with design inspiration.

Tutorials

21 December 2016

Bark Christmas Stocking

Cover a wire frame to create a Christmas stocking armature

21 December 2016

Add a Cotton pod Cuff to the Bark Christmas Stocking Armature

A fluffy cuff lines the top edge of the bark Christmas Stocking

4 January 2011

Drinking straw "test tubes"

When you need to keep a tiny stem hydrated this is just what you need.

8 July 2015

Using a pin to place tiny dew drop crystals

It's sometimes difficult to place a tiny crystal or bead exactly where you want it.

24 July 2012

Blow away hot glue strands

When you glue a structure with hot glue there are always a few stray strands of glue stuck all over the design. Blow it away with a hairdryer.

14 December 2016

Bark and Cotton Candy Cane

Cover a cardboard shape in cotton and bark to create a floral armature

17 September 2014

Bark Bowl

Glue bark onto a bowl to create a dome shape

31 March 2011

Bark covered Wreath

Keep in mind that in order to make a realistic looking fantasy design element, such as the wreath, you must focus on how this item would grow in nature.

19 February 2025

A bark design surface that suspends the first Spring flowers to rest just below the surface.

Glue two large bark chips to craft a large design platform to suspend the most delicate of floral details in a "I wish it was Spring already" arrangement.

25 December 2024

Candle in a window pane Christmas glow

Stack glass containers as your mechanic and frame for a Christmas glow design.

18 December 2024

Birch bark ice skates on a glistening kalanchoe and cypress snow pond ice skating rink

A winter wonderland ice pond table top design... with sparkling bark ice skates

18 December 2024

Glistening kalanchoe and cypress snow pond ice skating rink

Fill an upturned container with a string of fairy lights to look like a glistening snow rink for ice skating.

20 November 2024

Long lasting floral finial decoration for Christmas

Make ahead (oversized) bark and kalanchoe Christmas decoration... and best of all it last for weeks!

10 July 2024

Sweet pea and Felting Wool Swirl Around a Log

Arrange beautiful King Tut sweet pea vines to swirl around a piece of fire wood... with a bit of help from a felting technique

20 December 2023

Velvet Magnolia Leaf Christmas Tree

Cozy textured tall and luxurious table top tree design.

20 December 2023

Starlight Garland

Fold a continues strand of stars on a wire fairy light strand.

6 December 2023

Twig and Tinsel Candy Canes

Easy... but it takes a bit of resting time. Perfect for having your hot chocolate while waiting...

11 October 2023

Wood chip and sparkle mushroom cornucopia

A horn of plenty... seasonal sparkle.

21 December 2022

Winter Solstice Kalanchoe and Berry twig Lantern

Soft and minimal glow lantern that you can make ahead of time to last all Festive Season.

10 November 2021

Two layer table top forest floor armature that Transition from Autumn to Christmas

Don’t you just hate short cuts?<br> ... because the longer your design elements will last the more effort it will take for you to make them look vibrant again.

22 September 2021

Crafting a Corny Corn Husk Corn Armature

Four ears of corn, corn husk wire armature with a hidden water source for the fresh flowers.

30 December 2020

Suspend design elements around a poinsettia forest floor display

A low design that is still light and airy using a lot of convenient prepare ahead of time design elements.

23 December 2020

Wired snowball pom pom

Craft an ornamental ball or tuft with wool and cardboard.

23 December 2020

Weave a grass Christmas tree

Easy armature design that is actually quite relaxing to do... plant meditation!

18 November 2020

Foam free and flameless cardboard and bark yule log

Using all those cardboard boxes to craft a bark covered "log" design for getting a head start on Christmas decorating.

18 November 2020

Craft a single legged wire nest to place a flameless candle into your design

Super easy to add into your design and even easier to switch the candle on... and off, without disturbing the design details.

19 December 2018

Sparkling Eucalyptus Tabletop Christmas tree

Craft an ethereal Christmas tree from Eucalyptus leaves, twigs and sparkling snow flake crystals.

13 December 2017

Long lasting bark and Kalanchoe sleigh

Kalanchoe flowers last weeks without a water source and is the perfect way to dress up a bark and silver bell sleigh

6 December 2017

Barely there twig tabletop Christmas tree

Glue curved twig snippets to craft a delicate winter white Christmas tree

6 December 2017

Fluffy pillow filler tree skirt

The fluffy stuffing found in pillows create beautiful, water repellent tree skirts.

18 October 2017

Dracaena Roots

Grow Dracaena plants in water for the roots

28 December 2016

A bark strip and fluffed cotton disk wreath

Cover a wreath frame with bark strips and fluffed out cotton

Related Designs

29 November 2011

Jack Frost’s Christmas stocking

I used wire, fishing line (mono-filament) and Phalaenopsis orchid roots to make a messy lace Christmas stocking and dressed the stocking with frost green Cymbidium orchids

14 December 2016

A Candy(cane) Cotton Christmas

A floral cotton candy cane

24 December 2014

Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

A bark Christmas stocking glued to a frame

22 January 2013

It's High Time for Tea: from craft to art, taking a delicious floral journey with veneer techniques

This was my second two designs for my It's High Time for Tea Floral Craft and Art Demonstration at The Capilano Flower Arranging Club meeting.

3 April 2011

Bark Wreath

I needed the wreath to be as light as possible to make sure it would "dance in the rain" on the flexible metal stand.

19 February 2025

When the Pretty much Pretty flows, it lingers in our hearts

A bark support to display the most delicate Spring floral treasures.

25 December 2024

A Very Merry… all elf pass into Santa’s workshop… ‘tis Christmas Day!

A sweet through-the-window candle glowing kind of design to celebrate Christmas.

18 December 2024

A Very Merry… All Elf gliding along pass all the way from Santa’s workshop!

Bark ice skates on a snow covered pond... perfect for capturing Christmas memories!

20 November 2024

A Very Merry… all elf pass into Santa’s workshop!

A light... and slight start to designing for Christmas... an oversized Finial

10 July 2024

Still wrapping my head around this one

Craft a haze of green around a log for a sweet pea swirl effect.

20 December 2023

A Very Merry Dark chocolate Velvet Texture of Yore, Tall and Trendy Christmas Cheer

Tall and velvety Christmas tree... with a starlight garland

6 December 2023

A Very Merry Dark and Moody and bring it in from the Woods Trendy Christmas Cheer

From now to a bit after New Year's Eve I will show you my take on the trends for Christmas 2023. This week I start with natural styling with a handcrafted twig candy cane.

11 October 2023

Plenty Glow to Harvest

Glow and sparkle bark armature to celebrate the first signs of Autumn

21 December 2022

Let it

A happy December Solstice or the Winter Solstice lantern.

10 November 2021

… any day now

Using dried floral material is so trendy right now. But the longer lasting the design elements the more effort you have to put in to stop it from looking lifeless.

22 September 2021

Kinda Corny

Crafting with corn to make... well... corn, really.

30 December 2020

All is Calm, All is Bright

An easy to do ahead of time winter wonderland themed design for the calm days just after Christmas but before New Years Eve.

23 December 2020

Have yourself a Merry Cellulose Fibre Christmas: wired snowball pom pom for a woven grass Christmas tree

...ok not really that fancy- it’s made from paper pulp. Some cardboard to wrap the string around… really. In the spirit of 2020- I am inspired by the endless stream of cardboard boxes being delivered. This week I am making loads of snowball pom poms.

18 November 2020

Have yourself a Merry Cellulose Fibre Christmas: Yule log

...ok not really that fancy- it’s made from paper pulp. A cardboard box Yule log… really. In the spirit of 2020- I am inspired by the endless stream of cardboard boxes being delivered.