My Creative Workbook

Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

As tendrils tend to do

As tendrils tend to do floral art design

to coil

Vine pumpkin

to curl

Vine tendrils

to loop

Kalanchoe and Physalis

to roll

Kalanchoe and Physalis on a tendril wreath pumpkin

to wind

Kalanchoe and Physalis on a tendril Autumn wreath pumpkin

to scroll

Kalanchoe and Physalis on a tendril Fall wreath pumpkin

to twirl

Kalanchoe and Physalis on a woven wreath pumpkin

to twist

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

Tutorials

27 September 2017 Tendril vine Wreath Pumpkin

Reshape a vine wreath into smaller wreaths to combine as a pumpkin

1 November 2011 Weaving a twig wreath

For my design I wanted the wreath to look wind blown so I added a few loosely woven twigs into the weave. I also wanted to emphasize the autumn colours so I added a twirling...

11 February 2015 Stripping foliage from weaving stems

Remove foliage from stems to weave with

16 November 2016 Cut a vine wreath into sections to create a cup shaped armature

Cut a coiled vine wreath into sections to create an delicate armature to frame a few perfect chocolate cosmos flowers

4 May 2016 Loosened Wreath Armature

Snip a dried twig wreath to undo the spirals to hang around a glass container

24 May 2017 Chain link wreath weaving

Weave a few small wreaths to connect

1 May 2012 Cinderella Spiral Pumpkin from Midelino Cane Coils

Tie Midelino Cane coils to make a spiral armature

24 February 2016 Willow Spring

Set willow tips into a spiral to create a spring design

16 October 2012 Taco-shaped twig armature

Make a half-moon shaped armature to fill with flowers

23 March 2012 Drying Physalis sepals

Every Autumn we see the beautiful Physalis pods everywhere but they are easy to dry and preserve to use year round.

Favourite Flowers

Kalanchoe

Christmas Kalanchoe, Kalanchöe or Kalanchoë

Physalis

Chinese lantern, cape gooseberry, Peruvian cherry, Inca berry

Related Designs

4 October 2017 Whipped up in the autumn breeze

Give a loosely woven wreath legs to stand on to hover lightly around a pumpkin

10 January 2018 Let some magic find you

My article and floral wand design featured in DIY Weddings Magazine

7 March 2018 Twist of its own

... a quick an easy design. Curl a few flax leaves to frame orchids

21 March 2018 Bring some Spring

Just like the weather is only hinting at spring, so is this design only hinting at being a basket

18 April 2018 Swing Vine

Weave a delicate vine swing to nestle a small vase with spring flowers in

5 September 2018 Wreath Vine Season!

Weave tiny wreaths on the stems of Wisteria vines

4 December 2019 A Very Merry eucalyptus-collar-candle Christmas!

An easy and naturally fragrant winter white candle decoration to bring nature into your house this Christmas.

24 June 2020 End Up

Connect small wreaths to create a pretty summer armature to arrange your flowers on.

16 September 2020 The circle of making new things:

A wreath armature design for early Autumn... this takes the split armature Tutorial I showed you last month a little bit further.

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.

28 October 2020 Magic Spell Number 614: How to make absolutely any task you need to do fun

A hint of a wreath table top design for pre-Halloween decorating.

4 November 2020 Because that is just how I roll

A tumbling fall leaf design making use of the autumn leaves that are already falling to the ground.

7 April 2021 First we learn HOW to design… and then we learn how only WE design.

Whipped up to be light in the Spring breeze wreath design.

28 July 2021 Linked This Way

A fun way to elevate a few bud vases into a display.

15 September 2021 Blowing this way and that

Craft an arch armature to display those early autumn treasures.

6 October 2021 A good measure of Autumn

A wire and twig permanent display basket with tiny water sources for a few fresh flowers that can be replaced as needed.

3 November 2021 Coppepeppepepper wreath

Wire dried pepper berries to a wreath with super fancy flat wire (okay... it's the humble wire from a copper pot scrubber but it still looks fancy!)

12 January 2022 All That Potential

Softly glowing winter twigs for a minimal display

22 June 2022 You Say Tomato I Say Tomato

Tiny tomato vine design to celebrate Summer.

24 August 2022 Hot air balloon

A grass bubble to frame two of the most beautiful calla lilies.

14 September 2022 Overgrown S-Autum-mer Swirl

Designing for somewhere not still summer not yet autumn weather...

28 September 2022 Inside my world

Cut open a Chinese Lantern to show off that shiny berry inside.

5 October 2022 Tail End Of The Season

A display armature for a delicate autumn display.

1 March 2023 … ish

An early... ish Spring basket glued from blossom twigs

28 June 2023 Catch and Release

Ah... yes summer time designing. Anyone else seeing more insects hiding between the petals this year?

27 September 2023 this NEEDS to be at the top of my (our?) to-do list

Autumn bud vase collar made from gladiolus foliage.

4 October 2023 So Into Fall

Keep you fresh plant material hydrated in water... and your dried plant material suspended to keep it from falling into the water.

29 November 2023 Fall into Christmas

Want to make your Christmas greenery last... this is perfect!

21 August 2024 And what are you supposed to be?

... a hint of a pumpkin late summer floral display to show off the elegant curve of a gladiolus flower stem.

9 October 2024 As light as a super thankful pumpkin

Create a almost wreath floral display that is light and airy... looking like it was just harvested.

23 October 2024 Haerfest

Rooting clematis cuttings in a harvest wreath basket

30 October 2024 Those B00OOOoootunias though!

Add something dark and suspicious to your petunias for a fun Halloween display

20 January 2011 The last Vine Wreath

Every designer knows how to stretch their supplies. We use and re-use our dried plant material until our fellow designers feel like hiding it from us. I formed such an...

11 April 2011 Veiled Sunshine:50th Anniversary of the South African Orchid Society at the Cape Town Convention Centre.

Bright and sunny cymbidium orchids and roses, lilies, lisianthus and pincushions

10 April 2011 Feeling Funky

I wove vine wreaths to form a pyramid, one just slightly larger than the next. In the natural cavities between the wreaths I placed the roses and lisianthus in plastic covered...

12 April 2011 Intimate Dinner For Two- Table Setting Competition Class

Floral Sushi Dinner, for two

30 March 2011 Garden Wreath Workshop and Demonstration

Contemporary Wreath Design demonstration as part of the Durbanville Garden Club's annual Garden Festival, Western Cape, South Africa

19 October 2016 There are Octobers

Autumn wreath

4 May 2016 Ring-a-round

Open a vine wreath to create a spiral twig armature around a glass container

24 May 2017 Link

weave a few wreaths to link

10 April 2011 Simplicity

Durbanville FlowerClub Arrangement: Chincherinchee on a wire spiral

8 April 2011 Large Open Weave Twig Basket

Easter Basket used in the Durbanville Flower Club Easter Parade Demonstration

1 November 2011 On The Street Where You Live

A floral design snapshot of what it looks like when walking down the streets of Vancouver this week.

1 May 2012 Center the more adventurous design ideas on your centerpieces

Designing adventurous Contemporary Floral centerpieces Article in the Canadian Florist Magazine.

9 November 2016 All things Autumn (by which I mean all things chocolate): Loosen Up

This was the first design I did in my "All things Autumn (by which I mean all things chocolate)" floral art demonstration

24 February 2016 How to make an early Spring

Roll and set willow twigs into a spring

13 April 2011 Harnessing the Wind

22 February 2012 Nuts and Bolts of Floral Art Mechanics

My design entered for evaluation at the Floral Trends Design Group meeting in South Africa

16 October 2012 Bright, brighter… brightest!

Celebrate the bright colours of autumn with lilies and Chinese lanterns