My Creative Workbook

Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

Where do you even start looking?

5 April 2023
and more

Hidden between the

dappled

shade

that falls

so softly

Wild

spaces

Happy Easter egg hunt, flower buddies.

Hope you will have a lovely Easter weekend. With enough sun… and shade… just the way you like it.

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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

5 April 2023

Interweave a dangling Egg outline Easter Wreath Basket

An open egg shaped wreath for Easter styling

4 January 2011

Drinking straw "test tubes"

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

8 June 2011

Foliage Weaving

For this tutorial I focus on a simple weave pattern that does not require you to soften or prepare the leaves to be more durable or flexible. This is the starting point in weaving techniques. You can build on this technique to make floral handbags, gift boxes, and baskets, sew it into a curve or wrap it around a vase or cover a test tube.

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.

15 April 2015

Stretching leaves and foliage into a ringlet curl

Most leaves and foliage can be slightly manipulated to curve or curl.

31 March 2021

Interweave a criss-crossed nest for an Easter Egg

Zero waste, all natural Easter craft design.

11 April 2017

A little nest for Easter chocolates that naturally hooks over the edge of a container

Weave a tiny nest with a twig hook so that you can hang it in a design

29 March 2023

Grow a wheatgrass patch for an almost entirely edible Easter display

Grow wheatgrass to create a Spring patch of green for your mini Easter egg hunt.

30 May 2012

Plaiting a palm thorn garland

This is the basic technique used in traditional Easter crafts to plait a crown of thorns.

20 March 2019

Hanging dangling eggshells with a twig and some ripped grass

Pierce eggshells to string it up for a delicate Spring design element.

27 March 2019

An eggshell stack and grass snippet arch with a hidden water source for a Spring or Easter design

An almost nest like design with a hidden water source.

8 April 2020

Basket weave in an eggshell

A tiny little basket weave to add to an Easter Design

3 January 2011

Syringe with tube

Easy way to fill test tubes and easiest way to remove water from a vase

29 January 2020

Weave a long lasting (without using floral foam) in a vase floral design basket

Give your woven grass a water source by designing the basket in a vase rather than placing the vase in a basket

29 May 2019

Weaving and Interweaving for contrast

My block design is shaped around a Styrofoam block. It is bulky but lightweight and a great way to reuse packaging.

29 May 2019

Taking a break when weaving with grass

When weaving a more labour intensive design you might want to/have to break for a few hours. This is the best way to keep the project from dying out too quickly.

5 April 2017

Weaving a Pillbox hat from grass

Use the "over and under" weaving pattern to weave a round, upright hat with a flat top and no brim.

13 July 2016

Woven lily grass parachute armature

Weave a canopy or parachute shaped armature in a way that you can place the stems in two vases to keep it hydrated.

1 October 2012

Weaving a ball shaped Dew-drop Catcher from grass

Weave a sphere from grass

7 December 2016

Flat wire and grass bridal basket

Wrap grass around a flat wire shape to create a delicate bridal basket design

23 March 2022

A Double vase, Sticky tape, Reflexed AND Woven Nestled Grass and Tulip Whirl

so many techniques rolled into one rather pretty tulip nest. Perfect to celebrate new beginnings: Spring and my book birthday... and my online workshop!

4 March 2026

Growing forced bulbs to get extra long leggy nest weaving material for a Spring flower frog

Using the natural responses of plant material to their fullest creative potential.

4 June 2025

Tiny wreath to balance a water tube… with a twist

Weave small wreath as a support for water tubes.

9 April 2025

Nesting a small basket in a clematis vine for a “help yourself” Easter egg display

The dried plant material keeps the vine from flopping over in the vase as it continues to grow and flower and the vine lifts the dried material far above the water to prevent it from spoiling.

19 March 2025

Suspend flowers above water on two wires covered with ringlet "happy birthday streamers" made from grass

Create a wire platform to rest the fresh flowers on so that they are hydrated but not submerged in the water below the grass dome.

12 March 2025

Clip a neat design strip right through 38.46 g (or a thousand!) sprouting wheatgrass for a ethereal Spring display

Mow a gap through growing wheatgrass to display Spring treasures.

1 May 2024

Gap basket weave for a Spring flower container

Fiasco inspired vase cover for a small Spring design

27 March 2024

High Rise Twiner Jasmine and Twirling willow Easter mobile

A vertical take on an Easter nest design to craft a spinning mobile decoration.

Related Designs

31 March 2021

Criss-crossed

Hide an egg inside a interwoven nest for a dainty Easter decoration design.

11 April 2017

Well… we did it again!

Blossoms and chocolates for Easter

29 March 2023

To grow a patch of grass of our very own

The first of my new monthly articles about growing the material you need to design with. This month we are taking stock of what we need... and growing wheatgrass.

16 April 2014

Never saw such a lovely day...

Weave a palm thorn garland to decorate for Easter

20 March 2019

It’s all ===> right

Hang a dangling eggshell in a Spring blossom design.

27 March 2019

Like trying to find a water tube in a eggshell stack

A fun Spring and Easter design with stacked eggshells.

8 April 2020

Don’t put all your Baskets in one Egg

A bit of a wrong way round pretty Easter design. Put the basket weave inside the egg instead of putting the eggs in a basket.

29 January 2020

Peekaboo

A light and airy (no floral foam but still long lasting) floral design for those days that you are really, really looking for signs of Spring.

29 May 2019

Creative Competition

This week I am so excited to share my article and design that was published in the recent issue of the Floral Art Society of New Zealand's Academy Magazine for NZ qualified teachers, judges and demonstrators. It's all about good competition.