My Creative Workbook

Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

Can it be?

27 December 2017
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and more

The sounds of Christmas 2017: … just one more

rum

pum

Title from the Bing Crosby & David Bowie version of :Peace On Earth/Little Drummer Boy.

"The Little Drummer Boy" (originally known as "Carol of the Drum") is a popular Christmas song written by the American classical music composer and teacher Katherine Kennicott Davis in 1941.

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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

27 December 2017

Pine NeedleTube

Glue pine needles to a up-cycled disk to create a winter scene

6 March 2012

Glue a round stacked twig platter

Stack and glue tiny twigs to create a round platter

3 July 2012

Twig mushroom

Stack and wire a twig mushroom armature

4 December 2013

Large wax snowflakes

Artificial snow can be very "chemical" and flowers deteriorate quickly when exposed to it. It also dissolves in water. I use candle wax as "snow"

30 November 2016

Barely there Wreath armature

Glue snippets of Baby's breath and grass into a lace fine wreath shape to showcase the tiny chocolate cosmos buds

4 November 2015

Bleached Baby’s Breath Wreath

Glue a radiating wreath from bleached Gyp

4 May 2016

Loosened Wreath Armature

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

26 October 2016

Folded Bleached Baby’s Breath Wreath Armature

Glued Baby's Breath Wreath, folded in half to create a moon shaped armature

24 July 2012

Stacked Twig Roundabout

This is a great way to use all those bits of twigs and sticks in your design room to make a floral armature

4 December 2012

Twig Lanterns

Wire short twigs around wire rings to create rustic flameless tea-light lanterns

29 January 2014

Twig Shooting Star

Wire and glue a twig armature

12 July 2017

Twig sparkler

Glue twigs to radiate out from a central point

17 February 2016

Stack a Twig Enclosure

Loop and tie a few stacked twigs to create an enclosed floral armature

10 December 2014

Prickly Pine-needle Square

Create a floral foam cube for a Christmas "gift" table design

20 December 2017

Twinkle and Pine Christmas Star

Use a cardboard shape to craft a simple wire Christmas star

17 December 2014

Daisy shaped Pine Star

Use the sheath as a casing to create a decorative pine star

1 January 2025

Twirling New Year’s wish upon a sparkle star

Craft a birch bark star mobile to celebrate the sparkling New Year

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.

10 December 2024

A not yet all done… bark floral frog to catch that feeling of setting out together to collect the Christmas Tree to decorate

Create a design with a hint of incompleteness… something to still look forward to.

27 November 2024

Edge of a platter Christmas quarter wreath garland

How to make a floral display design that will leave space for even more decorations.

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!

13 December 2023

Rudolph the red nosed reindeer... the seed cone and twig version

Seed cone and Twig Reindeer

13 December 2023

Snowy Bead Garland Planter Bowl

Glue a beaded garland into a coiled bowl

13 December 2023

Stack and Glue Needle Trees

I am showing you a few versions of the tree. One with lights, with and without a stand, a pyramid stacked one and one on a wire.

13 December 2023

Quick and Easy way to dress up poinsettia plants for Christmas

Colour coordinate your tiny plant pots and add a bauble... or three

15 November 2023

Water dip Wax to match the flame petals of a Cyclamen flower for a layered Twig and Leaf armature

Dipping wax in a deep bath of water makes the most beautiful streams of wax that looks just like the petals of a cyclamen flower.

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.

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.

30 November 2022

The coziest Wool, Holly and Kalanchoe Table Top Candy Cane Snowflake

A fuzzy wool and twig snowflake that starts out as a handful of candy canes.

23 November 2022

Snowy Pinecone with green tomato berries and Kalanchoe flowers

A snowflake covered design that will hang on to well past Christmas.

16 November 2022

Magnolia Rose Bowl with the brightest Holly berries and Kalanchoe flowers

Long lasting berries, magnolia leaves and succulent (kalanchoe) flowers that can remain without any water or maintenance for... well... all the way to Christmas!

4 December 2019

Eucalyptus collar for a snow-covered Christmas candle

Not only will your home smell wonderful while crafting this design you will also have a ethereal and long lasting design to enjoy.

Related Designs

6 March 2012

Round and Round

Instead of weaving a platter try stacking the twigs from large to tiny small

3 July 2012

Twig-a-tude

Stack and wire twigs to create a twig mushroom with attitude for summer

30 November 2016

All things Autumn (by which I mean all things chocolate): Worth a second look

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

4 November 2015

Delicate

Bleached Gypsophila wreath with delicate autumn touches

26 August 2015

Bent

Weave a wreath from sweetpea stems and tendrils

4 May 2016

Ring-a-round

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

4 December 2012

'Tis the Season

My article looking at contrasts and 6 winter lantern designs featured in the DIY Wedding Magazine

29 January 2014

Glued to stay just so

Wire and glue a twig armature

12 July 2017

Sparkler

A radiating twig design

17 February 2016

Where would you put it!?!

Tie a twig armature enclosure for fresh flowers

10 December 2014

Let It Snow

Use floral foam to create a pine needle cube

20 December 2017

A Very Merry Christmas Star

A wire Christmas star with a secret plan to hide the twinkle

17 December 2014

Star of Wonder

Glue pine needles into star shapes

1 January 2025

The year is so new it… sparkles!

A sparkling star design to celebrate the New Year

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!

11 December 2024

A Very Merry… all elf pass into Santa’s Workshop for a dash of Having Something To Look Forward To

An on-purpose-not-yet-quite-done design to remind us to enjoy the Christmas moments as they unfold.

27 November 2024

A Very Merry… all elf pass into Santa’s workshop, special department of tinkering together those Soooo Good, for Goodness Sake moments

Long lasting and easy to pick up and place garland to decorate a Festive Platter of… anything, really!

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

13 December 2023

A Very Merry Naked Tree and Woodland Woodsy and Oversized Flowers 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 am continuing with a garland bowl and a cone and twig reindeer.

15 November 2023

Freeze… just for a moment!

Not quite winter but also a bit late for autumn design that is somewhere between sparkle and flying leaves.

8 November 2023

A warm up

An almost Christmas... Christmas wreath featured in the winter edition of Flora Magazine.

21 December 2022

Let it

A happy December Solstice or the Winter Solstice lantern.

30 November 2022

Take a bough… it’s Christmas time!

A wool and twig snowflake design (made from candy canes!) that will last the entire Festive Season.

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.

16 November 2022

All your Christmases…

A little bit of effort... that will last for weeks design to roll us in to the Festive Season.

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.

Favourite Flowers

Kalanchoe

Kalanchoe 'Calandiva Pink' flowers arranged in my tiny fridge magnet for my In a nutshell design