My Creative Workbook

Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

Autumn Leaf Rosette

In botany, a rosette is shaped by leaves radiating out from the stem of a plant and visible even after the flowers have faded.
In architecture a rosette is a flat, rose shaped, sculptured or carved relief

Gather a wide variety (in shape, type and colour) of autumn leaves to create a full and interesting rosette. You can really use any leaves. Use the smaller ones for the first three rows, the ones with the longest stems for the gap fillers and the largest leaves to shape the inside circles.

Cut a large cardboard circle.

Cut a large cardboard circle.

Roll the autumn leaves into cone shapes.

To start the pattern roll the first batch of autumn leaves into cone shapes.

Glue the leaves to the outer edge of the cardboard.

Glue the leaves to the outer edge of the cardboard.

Leave a slight gap between the leaves.

Leave a slight gap between the leaves.

Glue leaves all the way around.

Glue leaves all the way around.

Start on a second row of leaves

Start on a second row of leaves, just inside the first row.

Glue a third row of leaves.

Glue a third row of leaves and set aside for the leaves to dry.

Fill the gaps with fresh leaves

As the leaves shrink and shrivel up it will create gaps for fresh leaves.

I wanted the stems of the next batch of leaves to point up:

Fold the long stem end in.

Fold the long stem end in.

Fold one side of the leaf over to the vain

Fold one side of the leaf over to the vain and the stem

Roll the other side of the leaf over.

Roll the other side of the leaf over to create a neat packet

Glue the rolled leaves into the gaps.

Glue the rolled leaves in the gaps.

Add leaves all the way around.

Add leaves all the way around.

To fold bigger leaves smaller:

Fold the leaf and stem up.jpg

Fold the leaf and stem up.

Fold the one side over the stem.

Fold the one side of the leaf over the stem.

Roll the leaf.

and roll the leaf to create a packet

Glue the leaves to the cardboard.

Glue the bigger leaves to the cardboard. Because of the extra bit of leaf tucked into the fold these packets are thicker and fluff out when dry

Add more leaves.

Add more leaves...

Add a few more leaves.

and a few more leaves...

And a few more leaves.

and a few more leaves...

Set aside for the autumn leaves to dry.

Set aside for the autumn leaves to dry.

Again, the leaves will shrink as it dries leaving a few gaps.

Fill in the gaps with fresh leaves.

Fill in the gaps with fresh leaves and set aside to dry

Glue and weave twigs around the rosette.

Place the rosette on a chalice shaped vase. Glue in a twigs and weave it round the rosette to conceal the cardboard edge

Variation:

Or glue sisal fibers around the edge

Or glue sisal fibers around the edge

And decorate with seeds and twigs

And decorate with seeds and twigs

Glue in a few test tubes to keep the fresh plant material hydrated.

Glue in a few test tubes to keep the fresh plant material hydrated.

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

Tutorials

6 September 2011 Autumn leaf Roses

I used to make baskets full of these when I was a little girl. We had a big Acasia thorn tree and I used to spear my “roses” onto the tree pretending I was the fairy responsible...

6 September 2011 Autumn leaf Composite Flower

Glue a round Autumn leaf Composite Flower.

28 August 2013 Unravel Sisal string to get Sisal Fibers

I purchase a huge roll of sisal string to use... sometimes as string, but mostly I unravel it for the fibers

Related Designs

11 November 2012 Leaves by Hundreds came

A rosette of fall leaves to celebrate the beauty of autumn

19 November 2014 Forest Floor

Glue a autumn leaf rosette armature

30 December 2015 Achoo! Season

Fold and roll a rose from Eucalyptus leaves

9 March 2016 Take your time

My article and Japanese paper flower armature design featured in the March issue of The Academy Leader- Academy of Floral Design, published by the The Floral Art Society of New...

31 May 2017 Let's hang out

Skewer some Eucalyptus to suspend between the orchids

28 June 2017 Somewhere in the Middle

Skewer Dracaena leaves into a roll that supports a tiny water source for the Oncidium orchids

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.

1 November 2017 A Round

Create a delicate design that rests lightly on the edge of a container

8 November 2017 Psithurism

Craft a three tiered, dried autumn leaf armature

4 September 2019 Gently down the stream

A mindful summer craft using banana leaves to create a floating arrangement.

11 November 2020 What goes around

Display a single stem flower in an Autumn leaf twirl

24 February 2021 Picked up some proper Pruning

An early Spring design with a twist on using an old favourite: composite flowers.

25 January 2023 Even More

This orchid developed at the very end of a long stem... right as the rest of the flowers started to die back so I made a special armature to display the cut stem.

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.

15 May 2024 Well, well, well, if it isn’t the design solution I have been procrasti-crafting on

Beautiful Bletilla striata (Chinese Ground Orchid) deserves it's own elaborate frilly skirt display.

28 August 2024 Soft Serve Swirl

A nod to a summer filled with flowers... and the quite possibly the last of the season flowers still there to be picked.

4 September 2024 A shade around there, probably… maybe

A dried flower and foliage... flower... disk to help me pretend it is autumn