My Creative Workbook

Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

Plenty Glow to Harvest

Plenty of glow to harvest floral art design by Christine de Beer

I always feel there is something so, so special

Cornucopia and mushroom floral arrangement for fall

about these last few months of the year.

Contemporary floral installation using bark and mushrooms

It all starts one day when you notice glistening dew drops having an extra sparkle,

How to make a hot glue fairy light mushroom

Soon the leaves get all dressed up, having someplace fun to go

How to make spiderwebs with hot glue for an autumn forest floor floral display

And the branches somehow become more branchy

Hot glue mushrooms

The forest floor more fungi

How to craft an autumn forest floor display for flower arrangements from wood chips

… even cobwebs turn tinsel-y

Dry mushrooms to use in flower arrangements

ready for us to harvest...

Canary vine flowers in a flower arrangement for autumn

if only we knew where to look.

Canary vine flowers and mushrooms in a fall forest floor floral arrangement

Oh yes magic is in season.

Fall cornucopia horn of plenty floral display

Happy Autumn designing flower buddies!

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

Tutorials

11 October 2023 Wood chip and sparkle mushroom cornucopia

A horn of plenty... seasonal sparkle.

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.

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

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.

13 April 2012 Drying Mushrooms for Floral Art

I use edible mushrooms in my designs. To preserve them I press a tiny stake into the base and let them air-dry.

14 August 2012 Pine scale wreath

Break pine scales from the cone and glue on a wreath frame to create a continuous pine scale wreath

21 December 2016 Bark Christmas Stocking

Cover a wire frame to create a Christmas stocking armature

22 January 2013 Bark Veneer Cardboard Floral Cake

Glue a stack of cardboard circles to create a log-like floral cake

22 January 2013 Bark Veneer Cardboard Cake stands

A quick and easy way to make a cardboard cake stand

4 January 2011 Drinking straw "test tubes"

When you need to keep a tiny stem hydrated this is just what you need.

5 May 2011 Wire baubles

Make baubles from wire

19 August 2015 Bark pod for growing a Pearl Oyster mushroom mini farm

Glue bark to a Papier Maché and wire frame to create a pod shaped armature

17 September 2014 Bark Bowl

Glue bark onto a bowl to create a dome shape

29 July 2020 Foxtail in a bud vase forest floor

Create a sturdy platform from bark to design an entire forest floor on a single foxtail fern frond

22 April 2015 Dowel ring flower holder for the most delicate of stems

The most delicate of stems often disappear in a design. this is an easy way to display really delicate flowering stems without overwhelming them

11 January 2017 Potted bark pod for a flowering plant

Cover a Styrofoam shape with bark to create a bowl for a potted design

10 July 2012 Bark covered heart

Cover cardboard with bark to create a heart shaped log

18 January 2012 Butterfly hairclip claws to hold twigs in place while glue dries

Butterfly hair clips are the perfect little claws to help you hold tiny items in place while you wait for glue to dry

Favourite Flowers

Passiflora

Granadilla, passionflower, passion vines

Lentinula edodes

Shiitake Mushrooms

Related Designs

10 January 2024 Snow Glitters and Mossy Glimmers

A glimmer is the opposite of a trigger... a little uplift. For this design I am lifting up my happiness by starting a tiny mossarium... but enjoying it as a design while it is in...

17 January 2024 Wave Wrap

Roll birch bark into a double spiral to cradle some perfect flowers to admire all winter.

13 March 2024 In All Ways

A birch bark basket... perfect for some new Spring floral details.

19 June 2024 Do you know what the point is?

A bark armature standing on pointe for some gorgeous blue King Tut sweet peas

12 August 2012 A Twist on Tradition

August is the month for retail florists and wholesalers to start designing, ordering and preparing their product range for the Christmas and Festive Season. This is my article...

21 December 2016 A Gleaming Cotton Christmas

Glue bark to a wire frame to create a Christmas stocking armature

22 January 2013 It's High Time for Tea: from craft to art, taking a delicious floral journey with veneer techniques

This was my second two designs for my It's High Time for Tea Floral Craft and Art Demonstration at The Capilano Flower Arranging Club meeting.

15 March 2017 Wedding Welcome

My article and wedding direction board design featured in DIY Weddings Magazine

14 January 2013 It is High Time for Tea. Floral Craft and Art demonstration at the The Capilano Flower Arranging Club meeting

This is an overview of the Floral Art and Craft Demonstration at The Capilano Flower Arranging Club. I demonstrated three floral craft cake designs and three matching floral art...

9 April 2011 Vanilla

Vanilla Design for the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens, Cape Town, South Africa

19 August 2015 Growth Medium

Design a bark and moss pod for a mushroom mini farm

18 October 2017 On the inside

For a softer autumn leaf pod turn the leaves so that the bright side faces in when making the pod.

17 September 2014 Still

My bark bowl design and tutorial featured in the Centrepiece Wedding Magazine

29 July 2020 Tail end of the story

Craft a bark platform to design on in a foxtail fern frond.

13 April 2012 Spring Has Sprung!

The sprouts are sprouting and the bees are being and the birds are birding. Tempting as it is new growth is hard to condition. Hard, but not impossible

22 April 2015 Toiling

Convert a dowel stick into a container for delicate flower stems

2 November 2016 Pick your poison

A Fun Halloween design with "poisonous mushrooms" tucked between the moss and petals

11 January 2017 As special as an almost never find

Sometimes you find such a beautiful plant that you just can't bring yourself to cut it. This design explores using the entire plant, pot and all, in a design

10 July 2012 Sticktoitness

Glue a heart shaped design made from bark and wood.

10 November 2021 … any day now

Using dried floral material is so trendy right now. But the longer lasting the design elements the more effort you have to put in to stop it from looking lifeless.