Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman
Baby’s Tears spill-over for a water-drop vase
- 7 May 2025
- click to send Christine a smile
Design note: This is how I grow my arum lilies and Pilea Glauca (baby's tears). Time for a quick trim before I let it spill over the edge of the container.
I place the pot in a display pot without holes and let it stand in shallow water over winter. My pot usually stands next to a window where it gets some sun part of the day.
Neatly prune the Pilea Glauca (baby's tears) by trimming it around the edge of the pot. Catch all the cuttings to root in your design...
Prepare the display container by pouring water into a round fish bowl vase...
And place a glass frog on the vase.
Design note: If you do not have a frog... no problem! You can make a grid to top the vase. I will link a few options for you to make below this post in the Tutorial section.
Book readers turn to page 129 for a few creative suggestions on what I use to make my floral details stay put. For more information about my book: The Effortless Floral Craftsman
Place a tall bamboo skewer through one of the holes as a place keeper for where you want to place the flowers.
Strip the lower foliage away so that you have a clean stem to place in the frog.
And place the stem so that the cut end is well below the water in the bottom container.
Yes, this is going to take time. But the stems will root and it is a great way to propagate the plant.
Want a quicker way? Okay, scatter the stems as wide as possible on your design table...
Now you can see what you are working with and can pick the exact stem you want to place at a glance without struggling to find the ends.
Pick the stem up and remove the foliage...
Make a small bundle and slip it through the grass frog.
Move any imperfect stems that you will not use away to the side so that you only have the stems you can work with to pick from. If you keep them in the scatter you will waste time sifting through the same stems and rejecting them over and over.
Make sure the stems are all below the water so that they can continue to hydrate.
Time to quickly clean up. Yes, quickly... this week in our email I show you how to quickly clean your design table so that you do not waste your time and energy. I send out an email every Wednesday morning (Vancouver time) to let you know the moment the latest design is ready for you to view... and I add a tip that I found useful so that you can make the most of each week's design inspiration. The sign up is below this post.
Next I am replacing the bamboo skewer with a tiny water tube. I do this because I want to root the baby's tears plant in the flower frog over time and I do not want to introduce bacteria into the clear water. If you do not want to root the plant simply place the stems directly in the vase. This technique is also great for flowers like poppies that spoil rather quickly (if you burn the stems to condition it, it kills the cells and it introduces bacteria into the water causing it to spoil) or stems with a milky sap like poinsettia or daffodils- simply give them their own water tube and replace as needed.
anyway....
Slip the water tube into the hole.
I make these small water tubes from clear straws or pipes. See the Tutorial below for detailed instructions on how to make your own.
Fill the tubes with water and slip the flower stems into position.
Use a sharp cocktail stick to position the baby's tears to conceal the water tube.
And I am finishing off the design with a few sparkling dew drop crystals.
See the Tutorial below for more detailed instructions on how I place the crystals without damaging the delicate petals.
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.
Tutorials
Perfect size match... a vintage glass flower frog and a new pillar vase from Ikea
It's sometimes difficult to place a tiny crystal or bead exactly where you want it.
Aluminum wire grid to support the stems and flowers above the water.
Fishing line creates an invisible grid over a shallow glass cake stand to support the plant material
Bring in some warmth with a tulip design that still hints at winter
Using the same flower stems, only dry, to craft a grid for the same flowers stems, only fresh
Wire twigs and wire around a shallow container to keep your floral details suspended in water in a shallow container.
Wedge snipped twigs into a glass vase to act as a support for your flowers
Create an all natural fern grid to arrange your flowers for a summer display.
I use perlite to root my cuttings... and to support flower stems in an upright position in designs without using floral foam.
Tape a grid to create a barely there scattered grass display for a cooling summer display.
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...
Suspend flowers over a water filled container by weaving a natural grid.
Not only is water designs wonderfully refreshing to make... it is also wonderfully refreshing for your flowers.
Related Designs
Show off the most delicate alpine poppy by placing it in a veil of baby's tears (Pilea glauca)
Making what makes your floral details unique the focal point of a design
Spiral cyclamen foliage around to create a composite flower to showcase the petal-like anthurium flowers.
It's Tulip Season! Perfect for that "it's still winter ... but is that something green I see...?" mood designs.
An impossibly delicate looking way to securely keep flowers in place over a clear container.
oh yes, a light an airy design showing off those very first autumn leaves.
Light and airy... like a wonderful breeze on a hot summer day grass and erigeron display.
I left the grass to mature so that the tips mirror the sun bleached yellow of the orchids.
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...
Weave an all natural net to place over a vase to keep your flowers above water.
Is it better to go Cold Twinkle Turkey and embrace the minimalist living room or rather ease into it?