My Creative Workbook

Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

Kalanchoe - Christmas Kalanchoe, Kalanchöe or Kalanchoë

Kalanchoe

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

Common name

Christmas Kalanchoe, Kalanchöe or Kalanchoë

Origin

Depending on the species but mainly Southern Africa, Madagascar, Asia and Europe

Varieties

There are more than 125 species with new hybrid plants being cultivated to withstand colder temperatures

Colors

White apricot, orange, red, pink and combinations of those colours

Vase life

It is a succulent and will last well out of water

Scent

Uses

Ornamental rock gardens, terrariums or as growing designs. Flowers work well as body flower designs

Conditioning

Cold water shocks the growing plant and it will shrivel up. Remove the flowering stalks as they begin to fade. Let the plant dry out before watering.

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

Related Designs

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.

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 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!

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.

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.

4 December 2024 A slow reveal Birch Bark Scroll Nice List

Soak and roll a sheet of birch bark into a scroll for a woodland inspired Santa's Nice list

4 December 2024 A Very Merry… all elf pass into Santa’s workshop, department for checking it twice

A frozen in a moment bark scroll with silver leaf letters that was about to reveal Santa's Nice list!

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 Long lasting floral finial decoration for Christmas

Make ahead (oversized) bark and kalanchoe Christmas decoration... and best of all it last for weeks!

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

21 February 2024 Get a head start with a long lasting shallow vine basket and succulent table top Spring display

Long, long, long lasting display that will even root in place with a few adjustments.

21 February 2024 I'll Go First

My Spring/Easter design and the introduction article about my floral journey written by the editor, Nina Tucknott in the latest issue of Flora Magazine.

20 December 2023 Starlight Garland

Fold a continues strand of stars on a wire fairy light strand.

20 December 2023 Velvet Magnolia Leaf Christmas Tree

Cozy textured tall and luxurious table top tree design.

20 December 2023 A Very Merry Dark chocolate Velvet Texture of Yore, Tall and Trendy Christmas Cheer

Tall and velvety Christmas tree... with a starlight garland

28 December 2022 Bundled up Rosehip Scatter twigs… for anywhere you need a small frosted winter decorating touch

A delicate winter decoration to add sparkle to those in between Christmas and New Years Eve days.

28 December 2022 Giving a nod

A scattering of winter decorating for wherever you might need it.

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.

21 December 2022 Let it

A happy December Solstice or the Winter Solstice lantern.

14 December 2022 Sparkle Spool and Velvet Magnolia Table Top Christmas Tree

A pretty way to warm up your living space with the luxurious velvet texture you find on the underside of Magnolia leaves.

14 December 2022 Joyf'ly

Table top Christmas tree with a fairy light twig trunk.

7 December 2022 Fork In the Twig Tree

Minimal and so easy to do... craft an upside down twig tree.

7 December 2022 A berry and kalanchoe sleigh… to carry your twig tree home, of course

A snowy Christmas scene crafted from a handful of twigs... and a few kalanchoe flowers.

7 December 2022 Making spirits bright

A twig sleigh... to collect your twig Christmas tree, of course!

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.

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 Snowy Pinecone with green tomato berries and Kalanchoe flowers

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

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 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!

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.

12 January 2022 Budding winter twigs with a fluffy fairy light garland

Snowfall twigs with a light glow garland for a minimal winter display

12 January 2022 All That Potential

Softly glowing winter twigs for a minimal display

22 July 2020 Adding flowers to those pretty hand coiled flip flops I made for my book

Step up the flip-flop design by decorating it with some long lasting succulent flowers. It might look delicate... but these flowers are robust and long lasting.

22 July 2020 Step It Up

Dress up a pair of hand coiled flip-flops with succulents.

5 February 2020 Pour glue over a stick Bundle to craft a Poke Out Spring stick Armature

Fake an early Spring by crafting a long lasting stick bundle that has a blossoming branch of succulent flowers.

5 February 2020 What it’s all about

A bundle of twigs armature to create a pretend Spring design for a snowy morning.

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.

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.

7 November 2018 Book Launch Day!

Oh yes! Today is officially my book launch day!

7 November 2018 Ripped Flax Mittens

Knot delicate floral mittens from flax.

7 November 2018 Grab your party mittens, flower buds… it’s Book Launch Day!

Celebrating my book launch by knotting floral mittens using the design Tutorial from my book and the template from the free gift template booklet.

3 October 2018 Inside Pod Designing

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

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.

10 January 2018 Long lasting flower wand

Create a long lasting wand with Kalachoe.

10 January 2018 Let some magic find you

My article and floral wand design featured in DIY Weddings Magazine

27 December 2017 Pine NeedleTube

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

27 December 2017 Can it be?

Craft a pine tube to display a soft and snow filled winter scene

13 December 2017 Long lasting bark and Kalanchoe sleigh

Kalanchoe flowers last weeks without a water source and is the perfect way to dress up a bark and silver bell sleigh

13 December 2017 Just hear those sleigh bells jingling

Craft a bark sleigh that will last for weeks.

27 September 2017 Tendril vine Wreath Pumpkin

Reshape a vine wreath into smaller wreaths to combine as a pumpkin

27 September 2017 As tendrils tend to do

Curl a wreath with tendrils to create a twig-pumpkin

23 August 2017 Twirl a ripped Phormium pumpkin pod

Rip the New Zealand flax to create a delicate fiber armature

23 August 2017 Almost is still not quite

Weave just a hint of the Autumn to come

16 December 2015 Christmas Waves

Twist a Kalanchoe and Ivy vine Christmas tree mobile

2 December 2015 Silver bell Christmas Greenery kissing ball

Use delicate sprigs of cypress or juniper, fir, pine, eucalyptus, ivy or a combination of them all to create a winter themed kissing bough

2 December 2015 Stacking the odds in your favour

Cover a wire frame for a winter kissing bough.

5 August 2015 Wear it Well

Wrap a ribbon around an up-cycled plastic ring for the most comfortable wrist corsage

13 May 2015 Encased

Design Three from my Inspiration Video: Use the same floral ingredients, willow twigs, Lichen, Spanish Moss, Kalanchoe and Gypsophila to make three distinctly different...

6 May 2015 Tape and Wrap

Design Two from my Inspiration Video: Use the same floral ingredients, willow twigs, Lichen, Spanish Moss, Kalanchoe and Gypsophila to make three distinctly different contemporary...

30 April 2015 Layer

Design One from my Inspiration Video: Use the same floral ingredients, willow twigs, Lichen, Spanish Moss, Kalanchoe and Gypsophila to make three distinctly different contemporary...

4 December 2013 Flower Girl Red Net Basket

Weave a twig wreath for an easy net basket

4 December 2013 Red, Redder, Reddest!

My article and flower girl net basket design featured in the Red! issue of DIY Weddings Magazine

19 April 2012 In a nutshell

Sunday April 22 is Earth day and a tiny floral fridge magnet is a wonderful reminder of just how beautiful our planet is.