My Creative Workbook

Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

On Pumpkin Coloured Days

Happy All Hallows' Eve

A sweep of orange… there is:

Tawny, Coral and Rust

Apricot, Salmon, Pumpkin and Tangerine

Morning Sunshine and Mandarin

Cheddar cheese, Carrot stick, pumpkin pie and Orange Marmalade

Peach Sorbet, Ginger, Squash and Spice

... goldfish and the Monarch butterfly

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
Besom Broom
28 October 2015
Besom Broom

The word ‘Besom’ derives from the old English ‘besma’ meaning ‘bundle of twigs’.
Clearly invisible taped Grid
2 July 2014
Clearly invisible taped Grid

This is the easiest way to keep flower in place
Bite and snap a sturdy twig
22 May 2012
Bite and snap a sturdy twig

Break the sturdy twig on the scribe line.
Hanging leaves from a Hazel twig top bar
23 October 2013
Hanging leaves from a Hazel twig top bar

Create a free moving autumn leaf screen
Wire Tendrils
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
Make a Stuck with an Unstick Stick Maple Seed Spring floral frog… but for a grasshopper pair.
21 May 2025
Make a Stuck with an Unstick Stick Maple Seed Spring floral frog… but for a grasshopper pair.

Use the sticky side of sticky tape to create the lightest possible floral frog to display your floral details in.
Booo-tunias
30 October 2024
Booo-tunias

A fun design trick for a Halloween display treat.
Booo-tunias levitating in a scary twig armature
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.
Making light of a heavy, heavy pumpkin in double low containers for a zero waste kitchen pumpkin display… a few days before Thanksgiving
9 October 2024
Making light of a heavy, heavy pumpkin in double low containers for a zero waste kitchen pumpkin display… a few days before Thanksgiving

A great way to show off your Thanksgiving pumpkin before cooking it… keeping the pumpkin well above and out of the water so that it will not rot and you can easily remove it from the design when you are ready.
Fluffy Seed Snowflake Sparkle
22 November 2023
Fluffy Seed Snowflake Sparkle

A gentle switch between designing for Autumn and Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Canary vine tangle in a double vase
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.
Bored looking Sisal ghost with dangling bell feet
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.
A Reflex Rose Rose Hip… Rose
2 November 2022
A Reflex Rose Rose Hip… Rose

Making a rose even more roselike by enhancing its rosy-ness.
The horror of flower dye and a spider that sits beside her
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.
Corn-o’leaf mummy-o'lantern
12 October 2022
Corn-o’leaf mummy-o'lantern

Wrap and tie a fishbowl vase with corn foliage to craft a lantern for autumn... almost... Halloween.
Summer harvest Vine Swirl
14 September 2022
Summer harvest Vine Swirl

A great way have your vines root and enjoy them too...
Upright standing besom for the modern witch on the go
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.
Weave a willow wreath around a minimal pumpkin display
13 October 2021
Weave a willow wreath around a minimal pumpkin display

It’s amazing how we sometimes try to complicate a design. I tried adding calla lilies… took them out and loved the willow. Added gerberas. Took them out and loved the willow. Added orchids. Took them out and loved the willow. Added Dahlias… and yes, took them out and loved the willow. So finally I just thought- I really do love the willow.
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.
Sparkling dew drop puddle to keep flowers hydrated even during a heatwave
30 June 2021
Sparkling dew drop puddle to keep flowers hydrated even during a heatwave

Done in no time design... and it is rather refreshing to make.
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.
Arachnis Gerbera-petal-legicus
28 October 2020
Arachnis Gerbera-petal-legicus

The easiest Gerbara disk floret spider... ever!
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.
Mesh bag net armature to keep your flowers in place
30 September 2020
Mesh bag net armature to keep your flowers in place

Instead of vegetable net bags becoming trash wrap it around your container for an instant armature. It even looks a bit like a spider web- perfect for a long lasting design as we count down to Halloween.
Levitating Halloween tree with roots
30 October 2019
Levitating Halloween tree with roots

Cut a slit in the branches, at the root side to suspend it over the vases rather than in the vases.
Bat Skeleton crafted from twigs
30 October 2019
Bat Skeleton crafted from twigs

Eerie! Because you use what is there already in the twigs this skeleton looks rather... realistic!
Floating Filigree Pumpkin Patch
23 October 2019
Floating Filigree Pumpkin Patch

String up pumpkins and glass seahorse vases to craft an autumn mobile design.
Pierce and stack fall leaves to rest on the edge of a container
1 November 2017
Pierce and stack fall leaves to rest on the edge of a container

Use one leaf to keep the next in place
Display wreath that hover around a big shiny pumpkin
4 October 2017
Display wreath that hover around a big shiny pumpkin

For this design I wanted my wreath to be light and airy so that it just whips around the solid pumpkin like a breeze.
Tape a grid around the edges of a container for a table top wreath
13 September 2017
Tape a grid around the edges of a container for a table top wreath

Suspend flowers with an almost invisible taped grid
Related Designs
Thanksgiving Harvest
7 October 2011
Thanksgiving Harvest

Thanksgiving pumpkin with Chinese lanterns and spiral blossoms
Twig-a-tude
3 July 2012
Twig-a-tude

Stack and wire twigs to create a twig mushroom with attitude for summer
Pick-Up Sticks
29 September 2011
Pick-Up Sticks

A twig and stick design with sweet dumpling pumpkins and rosary vine (Ceropegia woodii). I also made a cherry twig and skeleton leaf Stick Insect
Summer
20 August 2014
Summer

A quick and easy design for summer
Clearly contained
2 July 2014
Clearly contained

Clear containers need clear grids to keep the flowers in place
Pink
10 July 2013
Pink

Weave an invisible grid to float the plant material on
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
Bright, brighter… brightest!
16 October 2012
Bright, brighter… brightest!

Celebrate the bright colours of autumn with lilies and Chinese lanterns
Prickly
2 October 2013
Prickly

Build a twig porcupine armature for fall flowers
A little bit of Art and Soul
24 July 2012
A little bit of Art and Soul

A twig structure with roses
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.
Sticktoitness that gets you Unstuck
21 May 2025
Sticktoitness that gets you Unstuck

Create a sticky grid for the lightest and dreamiest Spring floral display.
Those B00OOOoootunias though!
30 October 2024
Those B00OOOoootunias though!

Add something dark and suspicious to your petunias for a fun Halloween display
As light as a super thankful pumpkin
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.
Gentle transition
22 November 2023
Gentle transition

There's no need to rush the seasons. Take it slow and enjoy the plant material that are still available even if you are excited about what is to come...
That day after Halloween feeling
1 November 2023
That day after Halloween feeling

Time to cut down vines... and enjoy them a bit longer in a Halloween display.
bonfire
2 November 2022
bonfire

A final rosy burst of fiery autumn colour.
Arachnis Phobicus
26 October 2022
Arachnis Phobicus

A fun woven spider for Halloween decorating
Ahead
12 October 2022
Ahead

Oh my... a corn leaf mummy head for autumn... looking ahead to Halloween styling.
Overgrown S-Autum-mer Swirl
14 September 2022
Overgrown S-Autum-mer Swirl

Designing for somewhere not still summer not yet autumn weather...
Flying Lessons
20 October 2021
Flying Lessons

An easy get ahead with Halloween decoration that will last.
Gratitude
13 October 2021
Gratitude

A minimal Thanks Giving design that is a modern take on a wreath
It’s butter… nuts!
1 September 2021
It’s butter… nuts!

An it's not too early to decorate for Autumn, Autumn design
Into a Puddle!
30 June 2021
Into a Puddle!

Heat proof floral design for summer.
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.
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.
This season all the stylish pumpkins will be wearing them!
30 September 2020
This season all the stylish pumpkins will be wearing them!

A simple way to keep the plastic mesh the pumpkins are sold in from becoming trash: wrap it around the container as an armature for a quick Fall design. Replace the flowers as they fade and top up the water as needed.
There once was a bat called Tequila, a Halloween story
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.
As pumpkins do this time of year
23 October 2019
As pumpkins do this time of year

Hanging pumpkins and tiny vases to create a Autumn mobile floral design.
A Round
1 November 2017
A Round

Create a delicate design that rests lightly on the edge of a container
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
Around again
13 September 2017
Around again

Tape a grid at the edge of a container
Dream, Job
7 June 2017
Dream, Job

Create a grid to rest some plant material so that it floats and some with their stems to rest in the water below
Favourite Flowers
Rosa
Rosa

My all in the same boat floral art arrangement with roses in an Agave sisalana (sisal) leaf.