My Creative Workbook

Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

Flying Lessons

20 October 2021
and more

“The thing about witchcraft, said Mistress Weatherwax

… is that it’s not like school at all.

First you get the test,

And then afterwards

You spend

Years

Findin’ out how you passed it.

It’s a bit like life in that respect”

from "The Wee Free Men" Book by Terry Pratchett, 2003

From the entryway of our home...

... to yours- Happy decorating for Halloween

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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.

Gather what you'll need

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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

20 October 2021

Upright standing besom for the modern witch on the go

Craft a wire tripod to fit into the bristles of a handcrafted broom so that it can stand freely in your display.

28 October 2015

Besom Broom

The word ‘Besom’ derives from the old English ‘besma’ meaning ‘bundle of twigs’.

28 March 2011

Spinning a Hot Glue Spider Web or silk for a Floral Cocoon

How to spin (and remove) hot glue spider web or floral cocoon

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.

22 May 2012

Bite and snap a sturdy twig

Break the sturdy twig on the scribe line.

30 May 2012

Drying Hydrangeas: Fast, Flat or Natural

Use all three methods to dry hydrangeas to get three very different textures to use in design work.

26 July 2011

Wire Tendrils

Curl the wire at irregular intervals to create a natural wire tendril similar to that of a passion fruit plant

3 October 2018

Inside Pod Designing

Snip open a Physalis pod to create a cavity for delicate floral details.

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.

30 October 2019

Bat Skeleton crafted from twigs

Eerie! Because you use what is there already in the twigs this skeleton looks rather... realistic!

16 October 2012

Taco-shaped twig armature

Make a half-moon shaped armature to fill with flowers

3 July 2012

Twig mushroom

Stack and wire a twig mushroom armature

2 October 2019

Cross hatch Twig Armature

Add a bit of shadow and dimension to a flat armature by using the sketch technique of cross hatching.

29 October 2025

Spin a spiderweb around skeletons scaling up still sprawling severed nasturtium stems

Create a glass stack for growing nasturtium foliage for a long lasting Halloween display.

30 October 2024

Booo-tunias

A fun design trick for a Halloween display treat.

30 October 2024

Booo-tunias levitating in a scary twig armature

Craft a stable dried autumn armature to keep petunia stems suspended in water at the top of a container.

1 November 2023

Canary vine tangle in a double vase

Great craft for when you are tidying up the garden before the first frost but would still like to enjoy the vines for a bit longer.

1 November 2023

Bored looking Sisal ghost with dangling bell feet

Quick and so easy... I added the bells so that the ghost looks kinda bored now that Halloween is all over.

30 August 2023

Radiating bunny tails

Spear bunny tail grasses into a Kenzan to create a cozy space to display apricot lemonade cosmos flowers.

26 October 2022

The horror of flower dye and a spider that sits beside her

Weave a spider from lily grass... and reposition it every so often for a creative Halloween twist.

Related Designs

28 October 2015

On Pumpkin Coloured Days

Create a besom broom to sweep up those Autumn leaves

3 October 2018

But what’s inside?

This week we are looking at the contents pages of my book... but more specifically at the sweet little pod design on the content page of my book.

30 October 2019

There once was a bat called Tequila, a Halloween story

An all plant zero waste, levitating, twig (with just a splatter of autumn leaves, a breath of spiderweb and float of roots) Halloween decoration with an eerie bat skeleton made from twigs lurking just over there.