Check
My Creative Workbook

Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

An open and shut cone

  • 21 January 2026

I hope...

this design finds you designing with your very pretty

pet cone

or thinking about your very pretty

pet cone

that you still (always) wanted to design with…

…or… making plans to go find a very pretty pet cone of your very own

because look how great it is to design with in winter!

Sign up for my weekly newsletter

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

Sign Up Now
Tutorials
Close an open pinecone to use as a flower frog
21 January 2026
Close an open pinecone to use as a flower frog

Use the natural way pinecones close their scales when wet or cold to protect the little seeds from moisture and damage to display your winter flowers in a small container.
Using a pin to place tiny dew drop crystals
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.
Lemon Aid Container Stopper
24 July 2018
Lemon Aid Container Stopper

Keep flowers in place by placing a lemon on the narrow rim of the container.
Stretching leaves and foliage into a ringlet curl
15 April 2015
Stretching leaves and foliage into a ringlet curl

Most leaves and foliage can be slightly manipulated to curve or curl.
Pine Cone Roses
24 December 2012
Pine Cone Roses

Cut pine cones smaller to look like roses
Rock steady for tiny floral details
26 June 2024
Rock steady for tiny floral details

Lean a large pebble in a display container to keep your summer floral details exactly where you want them.
Add lemony summer balance to wild “just picked these” design elements to avoid overcrowding your container.
9 July 2025
Add lemony summer balance to wild “just picked these” design elements to avoid overcrowding your container.

Balance a few lemons to craft a light as a summer's breeze mechanic for bobbing and breezy flowers.
Turning a pumpkin to hover for a sway in the lightest autumn breeze display
1 October 2025
Turning a pumpkin to hover for a sway in the lightest autumn breeze display

A pretty pumpkin deserves some fancy mechanics to create an impossibly ethereal display.
Double down on the Fall magic with the earliest hint of bare (but sparkly) Twig Season
13 November 2024
Double down on the Fall magic with the earliest hint of bare (but sparkly) Twig Season

A double vase to keep the bit of sparkle you add to transition a Fall design into Christmas nice and dry... while the fresh plant material remain hydrated.
Floral wreath ring stem armature for a cute pumpkin patch in a stem vase design
7 October 2020
Floral wreath ring stem armature for a cute pumpkin patch in a stem vase design

Use a wreath to keep flower and a heavy little ghost pumpkin in place in a small vase.
Above and below eucalyptus curve butternut cradle
1 September 2021
Above and below eucalyptus curve butternut cradle

Suspend a heavy butternut over water in an early Autumn design.
Weave a flat top to tip at an angle with flower stems
9 August 2017
Weave a flat top to tip at an angle with flower stems

Craft a platform to highlight small flowers
New growth Spring frog
26 April 2023
New growth Spring frog

Willow cutting left in water will root and sprout... perfect for a all natural flower frog to admire as is or to keep long stem flowers upright.
Rudolph the red nosed reindeer... the seed cone and twig version
13 December 2023
Rudolph the red nosed reindeer... the seed cone and twig version

Seed cone and Twig Reindeer
Pine scale wreath
14 August 2012
Pine scale wreath

Break pine scales from the cone and glue on a wreath frame to create a continuous pine scale wreath
Peel a Pine cone
14 August 2012
Peel a Pine cone

It is easier to peel a pine cone from the flat side than to try and break the scales from the top
Create a tighter fit with pebbles so that you can wedge a twig securely into a vase
26 August 2020
Create a tighter fit with pebbles so that you can wedge a twig securely into a vase

It all started with my twig being just too small to wedge into the glass vase tight enough to keep my orchid stem in place...
Snowy Pinecone with green tomato berries and Kalanchoe flowers
23 November 2022
Snowy Pinecone with green tomato berries and Kalanchoe flowers

A snowflake covered design that will hang on to well past Christmas.
Patina Copper Spiral Bauble and Pinecone Cascade
22 December 2021
Patina Copper Spiral Bauble and Pinecone Cascade

A beautiful pinecone dressed up for Christmas.
Pinecone and delphinium table top tree
24 July 2013
Pinecone and delphinium table top tree

Small tree with fresh flowers
Weave a grass sphere to keep the long flower stems neatly in place on a bud vase
6 July 2022
Weave a grass sphere to keep the long flower stems neatly in place on a bud vase

Both pretty and pretty effective. Keep the flowers exactly where you want them by weaving a stopper for your bud vase.
Related Designs
Lemon Aid
25 July 2018
Lemon Aid

Use a lemon as a stopper to keep floral material in place
It’s the most… it’s the most… wonderful Patina Copper Spiral Bauble Christmas of all!
22 December 2021
It’s the most… it’s the most… wonderful Patina Copper Spiral Bauble Christmas of all!

This is the fifth of my Christmas 2021 series of designs. This year in the form of a mini workshop… my Christmas present to you. This week I will show you how to add a mostly blue patina to pinecone shaped spiral baubles.
It’s leaps of faith, grasshoppers
26 June 2024
It’s leaps of faith, grasshoppers

A sunny rock to make your design... not rock
I love flowers
9 July 2025
I love flowers

Just the right balance for a lemon light summer display.
And just like that, it is The Pumpkin’s Turn
1 October 2025
And just like that, it is The Pumpkin’s Turn

An impossibly minimal autumn display that sways in the slightest breeze... as if by magic!
Fall-a-la-lah!
13 November 2024
Fall-a-la-lah!

Transitioning into the Christmas season... gently
Let’s circle around to this one
7 October 2020
Let’s circle around to this one

Create a floral circlet to rest the little pumpkin on... but above the water line.
It’s butter… nuts!
1 September 2021
It’s butter… nuts!

An it's not too early to decorate for Autumn, Autumn design
Hat tip
9 August 2017
Hat tip

Tip a mortarboard inspired top at an angle for a glass design
Oh So Me
26 April 2023
Oh So Me

Snip and grow willow to create a Spring new growth support for your tall flower stems.
Putting your own spin on it
22 May 2019
Putting your own spin on it

I would definitely describe my own personal style as minimalist classic... but with an edgy twist.
Wonder
4 July 2018
Wonder

Tie a bundle of grass to support your floral details
FLOAT
1 March 2011
FLOAT

Reflex Tulip and Passion Fruit Tendrils in a wax disk
Of should and must
30 April 2025
Of should and must

Display tiny design details in a budvase by crafting a stopper-frog.
Grace
2 August 2017
Grace

Use snips and snippets and leftovers to create a design of it's own
It starts with WHY
26 August 2020
It starts with WHY

Add design elements that serves a purpose for a minimal summer inspired floral design.
Ways to Merry a Christmas
23 November 2022
Ways to Merry a Christmas

A little bit of effort... that will last for weeks design to hang about the whole Festive Season.
Getting into the competitive spirit of things
24 July 2013
Getting into the competitive spirit of things

Retail florists and wholesalers are already designing, ordering and preparing their product range for Christmas. This is my article that I wrote for the Christmas Design Issue of Canadian Florist Magazine
The tiniest drop
20 July 2022
The tiniest drop

A radiating summer design that waves in the slightest of breezes.
Please have snow… and presents under the tree
24 December 2012
Please have snow… and presents under the tree

Wire a Tiny Twig Treasure Trunk for small Christmas gifts
Let’s play ball
6 July 2022
Let’s play ball

Weave a spherical support to place long stemmed flowers into a bud vase.