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Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

Besprinkle Birthday besparkle!

  • 25 March 2026
  • and more

… as this is my book’s birthday

I thought I would take a moment to reflect back

on one of the sparkle-iest...

of sprinkled with

sparkle ideas

… and one of my favourite designs in my book

and the one with my “signature” placing the dew drop crystals with a pin How-To.

I cant believe I have not shown you this one before... but ... it is my book’s birthday!

Happy Birthday, The Effortless Floral Craftsman

Flower buddies, I’ve again managed to tuck away a very small stack of the hand‑bound craftsmanship edition of my book (the fancy ones I usually bring along to sign at design events) to quietly offer to you. If you’d like one, I can giftwrap (my favourite part!) and sign it for you. The reduced event price is CA$100, plus postage (in Canada that is currently $33) instead of the CA$163 it is currently selling for at online retailers such as amazon.ca (approximately €63.13 EUR, A$104.50 Australian Dollars, plus postage)

Each copy is hand‑bound by artisans who work with the kind of care we all admire, which means only a handful can be made at once. So let's keep this offer between us, to honour their pace.

For more information about my book: The Effortless Floral Craftsman

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Dew-Drop Crystals
Dew-Drop Crystals

I created the Tutorial for how I add these crystals to my floral designs 11 years ago! Since then I have tried, tested and searched for the perfect crystals that would go from studio‑table picture perfect to show‑day‑dependable and I always come back to these. They remain the absolute best. They’re inexpensive yet have a refined, high‑quality crystal brilliance; they don’t tarnish and their adhesive backing stays reliably tacky even after they were exposed to water.
Tutorials
Sparkle web for a wreath display
25 March 2026
Sparkle web for a wreath display

Weave fishing line over a wreath to create a sparkling grid to stick dew drop crystals to.
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.
Overgrown Willow web inspired by a traditional Dream-catcher
8 July 2015
Overgrown Willow web inspired by a traditional Dream-catcher

I wanted my willow armature to hint of a web-like dreamcatcher that grows in the wild rather than being a precise replica of the traditional craft technique. But I did weave it in a similar way.
Weaving a twig wreath
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 copper wire into the weave
Drinking straw "test tubes"
4 January 2011
Drinking straw "test tubes"

When you need to keep a tiny stem hydrated this is just what you need.
Use dried roots from a re-potted Monstera to create a root lace-wreath
14 May 2025
Use dried roots from a re-potted Monstera to create a root lace-wreath

Every repotting season I struggle with what to do with my overgrown Monstera plant. It absolutely loves hanging out in my design room... so... let's design, Monstera!
Vase topped with a Hollow Wreath for Halloween
28 October 2020
Vase topped with a Hollow Wreath for Halloween

Create a dimensional wreath by assembling wreath vine to hug around an oblong container.
Copper Pepper Berry Wreath
3 November 2021
Copper Pepper Berry Wreath

Wire pepper berries to a wreath
Craft a Spring basket from a wreath
21 March 2018
Craft a Spring basket from a wreath

A wide gap nearly basket for nearly spring
Stripping foliage from weaving stems
11 February 2015
Stripping foliage from weaving stems

Remove foliage from stems to weave with
Willow and Rose heart armature
13 February 2019
Willow and Rose heart armature

Weave willow stems into a heart shaped armature.
A wreath bridge to hint at the transition between the wildness of late summer and the autumn haze to come
3 September 2025
A wreath bridge to hint at the transition between the wildness of late summer and the autumn haze to come

Arrange a selection of freshly cut cosmos flowers to hint at the autumn to come.
Spin a Single Strand Spanish Moss Spider Web
29 October 2014
Spin a Single Strand Spanish Moss Spider Web

Weave a barely there all natural spider web.
Beaded wire
14 January 2011
Beaded wire

Thread thin wire with tiny beads
Stringing wool and Spanish moss
8 August 2012
Stringing wool and Spanish moss

Create veil of wool and Spanish moss
Clove Copper Garland
27 December 2023
Clove Copper Garland

Twist and wire a gorgeously sparkly clove copper wire string.
Four wreath harvest basket that looks like it grew that way… because now some of it still is!
23 October 2024
Four wreath harvest basket that looks like it grew that way… because now some of it still is!

Harvest some cuttings to root in a wild and overgrown floral design.
Weave a burst of overgrown wildness wreath
18 September 2019
Weave a burst of overgrown wildness wreath

This wreath is perfectly imperfect. Perfect for using those first few autumn (or preserved from last autumn) leaves.
First Frost Sparkle Wire and Twinkle Vine Wreath
8 November 2023
First Frost Sparkle Wire and Twinkle Vine Wreath

An impossibly delicate wreath shape that will last... and last... all Festive Season long.
Twinkle and Pine Christmas Star
20 December 2017
Twinkle and Pine Christmas Star

Use a cardboard shape to craft a simple wire Christmas star
Spring breeze tangled ribbon wreath
7 April 2021
Spring breeze tangled ribbon wreath

Using branches pruned from a fruit tree... with a few dried flowers and just a few orchids to make a fresh Spring design.
Off-center hole-wreath armature
12 September 2018
Off-center hole-wreath armature

Craft a slightly off center wreath from dried vines and grasses for Phalaenopsis orchids.
Sweet pea and Felting Wool Swirl Around a Log
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
Wrap a line grid to support plant material in a shallow, stemmed container
10 July 2013
Wrap a line grid to support plant material in a shallow, stemmed container

Fishing line creates an invisible grid over a shallow glass cake stand to support the plant material
A radiating, gradient carnation design in a shallow container
12 May 2021
A radiating, gradient carnation design in a shallow container

A bit of Kenzan support for a floating shallow container design
Hanging Tillandsia
17 August 2016
Hanging Tillandsia

There are many ways to hang your air plants in a design. In this Tutorial I explore three
Loosened Wreath Armature
4 May 2016
Loosened Wreath Armature

Snip a dried twig wreath to undo the spirals to hang around a glass container
Related Designs
How To Catch A Dream
8 July 2015
How To Catch A Dream

Take inspiration from a traditional Dream-catcher design to create a floral armature
Spring Light
14 May 2025
Spring Light

Wrap and weave a lace fine disk.
Magic Spell Number 614: How to make absolutely any task you need to do fun
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.
Bring some Spring
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
Coppepeppepepper wreath
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!)
Like a hazy serotinal sunset
3 September 2025
Like a hazy serotinal sunset

Capture a hazy late-late summer moment in an abundant floral display.
Direct Contrasts
13 October 2011
Direct Contrasts

I have always been fascinated, as a designer, by the idea that there is a point when extremes or direct contrasts flip into its opposite.
Celebrate!
23 March 2016
Celebrate!

A closer look at my design at the 20th anniversary of Canada Blooms and The Toronto Flower Show
Stringing in the rain
8 August 2012
Stringing in the rain

A veil of green wool, Spanish moss and dried hydrangeas hang over white lilies
Haerfest
23 October 2024
Haerfest

Rooting clematis cuttings in a harvest wreath basket
A warm up
8 November 2023
A warm up

An almost Christmas... Christmas wreath featured in the winter edition of Flora Magazine.
If you frame it that way…
15 February 2023
If you frame it that way…

A blossom frame to display the prettiest anthurium of the whole bunch!
First we learn HOW to design… and then we learn how only WE design.
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.
It’s a sugar rush!
18 September 2019
It’s a sugar rush!

A perfectly imperfect wild willow wreath to display the first Autumn treasures of the year.
Hole-ding it’s breath
12 September 2018
Hole-ding it’s breath

Craft an almost Autumn armature from dried sweet pea vines
Still wrapping my head around this one
10 July 2024
Still wrapping my head around this one

Craft a haze of green around a log for a sweet pea swirl effect.
In the Bag
14 April 2011
In the Bag

My bag was woven from re-purposed wire and recycled fishing line and tiny stems of growing sweet pea plants and orchids
I found it this way: Spiderweb design
21 September 2016
I found it this way: Spiderweb design

This was the first design I did in my "I found it this way" floral art demonstration
As tendrils tend to do
27 September 2017
As tendrils tend to do

Curl a wreath with tendrils to create a twig-pumpkin
Whipped up in the autumn breeze
4 October 2017
Whipped up in the autumn breeze

Give a loosely woven wreath legs to stand on to hover lightly around a pumpkin
Veiled Sunshine:50th Anniversary of the South African Orchid Society at the Cape Town Convention Centre.
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
The last Vine Wreath
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 attachment to my vine wreaths. This post features four designs using the same wreaths.
Pink
10 July 2013
Pink

Weave an invisible grid to float the plant material on
It’s up there
12 May 2021
It’s up there

Whether it’s a solid foot for floating flowers, the tips of new growth or the curve of a dried twig your design needs help to stay upright.
A Pocket full of Starlight
31 December 2012
A Pocket full of Starlight

Knot a grid to place over a glass bubble vase to keep plant material in place
On-Spring-dium
11 March 2020
On-Spring-dium

A almost impossibly delicate oncidium (dancing lady) orchid wreath.
Strangeness
17 August 2016
Strangeness

Weave a wreath to display air plants on
Ring-a-round
4 May 2016
Ring-a-round

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