Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman
Barely there twig tabletop Christmas tree
- 6 December 2017
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Place a dowel in a small container. I used a Kenzan to keep the dowel upright.
See the Tutorial below for more detailed instructions on how to use a Kenzan.
Fold a piece of paper in half and measure it against the dowel to make it easier for you to shape the tree.
Rip the paper to the rough shape of your tree.
Glue the paper to the back of the dowel. It is going to be removed so place small glue dots at the top, middle and bottom just to keep it in place temporarily.
Glue the first twig snippet to the dowel.
Start to shape the tree. Imagine what the branches would look like with a dusting of snow.
Place all the twigs to slope out and down from the mid point and then slightly lift up towards the tip. Stay within the template created by the paper at the back of the dowel.
Cover the dowel with snippets of twigs so that it blends in.
Add a few vine tendrils between the twigs.
Remove the paper from the back of the dowel
You can now turn the tree around and use the twigs as a guide to add twig snippets to the other side...
or cover only the one side if you prefer it to look less dense. See further down the Tutorial for instructions on how to finish it off neatly.
Paint the delicate branches with wood glue and sprinkle with fake snow.
See the Tutorial below for more detailed instructions on how to add the fake snow.
Paint the back of the dowel with wood glue...
And sprinkle it with fake snow to finish off the design
Cover the Kenzan with a fluffy tree skirt (See the Tutorial below for detailed instructions) and sprinkle it with snow
Glue in tiny water tubes for the fresh flowers
See the Tutorial below for detailed instructions on how I make tiny water tubes from drinking straws.
Paint the outside of the water tubes with wood glue and sprinkle with fake snow.
Hang a few baubles on the twig snipped branches.
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Tutorials
I call this “lace” because I use pins to guide the wire sections together- almost like you do when making lace.
Butterfly hair clips are the perfect little claws to help you hold tiny items in place while you wait for glue to dry
This is an easy and quick way to make sure your table design is the right hight
The wire spirals are supported on wire sections pressed into the wax
The fluffy stuffing found in pillows create beautiful, water repellent tree skirts.
Wrap vines and twigs around a wire frame to create a decorative woodland chandelier
Cotton balls can be unrolled and fluffed to create long garlands of "snow"
Use wood glue to make a light as air table top wreath from pine needles
When you need to keep a tiny stem hydrated this is just what you need.
Artificial snow can be very "chemical" and flowers deteriorate quickly when exposed to it. It also dissolves in water. I use candle wax as "snow"
Twist ivy vines around a cardboard shape to create a lace fine Christmas tree mobile.
Cover a cardboard shape in cotton and bark to create a floral armature
It's sometimes difficult to place a tiny crystal or bead exactly where you want it.
Cover a wreath frame with bark strips and fluffed out cotton
Temporarily adhere a traditional Ikebana Kenzan or pincushion to a shallow container.
Favourite Flowers
The white variety is referred to as paper white, the yellow is known as a daffodil.
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