My Creative Workbook

Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

Basket weave bunny tail grid to catch your floral details

Choose a block shaped container for this design

Choose a block shaped container for this design. Any square would do... even a deeper vase if you want to use longer stems. Fill your container with water.

Gather a bundle of fluffy bunny tail grasses

Gather a bundle of fluffy bunny tail grasses.

Pair the grasses so that you have a bunny tail pointing to either side

Pair the grasses so that you have a bunny tail pointing to either side.

Place the grasses in rows

Place the grasses in rows on your working surface.

Weave in two more matched grasses through the rows

Weave in two more matched grasses through the rows.

I use a simple over and under weaving pattern. If you are unsure how to weave you can find a Tutorial below this post.

Weave in the next row

Weave in the next row...

To complete the open weave grid

To complete the open weave grid

now the next part is the hardest! Picking up an open weave is always the most difficult part of a woven design mechanic. I tell you about my trick... and give you another option in our email this week. If you are not yet receiving my Wednesday morning (Vancouver time) email you can sign up below this post. Also, I would love to connect with you so reply to the email if you have a comment or questions... or say hi.

Carefully place the grid over the opening of your container

Carefully place the grid over the opening of your container...

Book readers: if you want the grid to last longer I suggest designing something like the grid I used on page 12. The blades of grass is now in the water and can continue to hydrate. Simply adjust this so that the fluffy bunny tails peek over the edge and the cut stems are in the water below.

For more information about my book. The Effortless Floral Craftsman

And place the floral details to rest on the grid but remain hydrated

And place the floral details to rest on the grid but remain hydrated in the water below.

Add in a few curled grasses to dangle over the flowers

Add in a few curled grasses to dangle over the orchids. And add a few sparkling dew drop crystals to finish the design.

You can find a way to carefully curl grass in my book on page 288 but to get you started I also have an easy way linked here below the post.

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

Tutorials

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...

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.

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.

3 April 2013 Twin Leaf Weave

Weave two palm leaves together to create a floral grid

23 April 2014 Flower catcher

Keep a flower suspended just above water with palm leaves

13 January 2016 Stacked Grass Pyramid Armature

Stack snippets of grass on a wire frame to make a floating pyramid armature

25 August 2011 Placing orchids in test tubes

Cut the Phalaenopsis orchid with a bit of green stem attached. This will make them last longer.

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.

27 February 2019 Weave a floral trap

Keep your flowers in place with an all natural woven trap.

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.

3 April 2019 Dried Blossom Caterpillar

Craft a pretty little critter by threading dried blossoms onto a wire.

9 August 2017 Weave a flat top to tip at an angle with flower stems

Craft a platform to highlight small flowers

15 January 2020 Over and under weave floral panel armature for inside a vase

Weave a small panel that fits snugly in a container for a minimal, foam free design that is quick to make but looks spectacular.

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

3 February 2021 Weave a Ceropegia Woodii Vine grid to catch your flowers

Suspend flowers over a water filled container by weaving a natural grid.

1 May 2019 An almost not even there grass grid

... with the help of an old staple technique.

Favourite Flowers

Phalaenopsis

Phalaenopsis, Moth orchid

Related Designs

23 August 2023 Note to Self

An easy to weave natural grid for summer floral arrangements.

17 July 2024 Refresh-ing

A tall vase for a short orchid stem summer design

3 April 2013 April showers bring May flowers

After a long winter it is always fun to use the first spring bulb flowers!

23 April 2014 Bound to Keep

Weave and tie a decorative catcher to suspend flowers

13 January 2016 Once Upon A Time

Stack and glue a Grass Pyramid Armature

13 July 2016 Woven

Weave a canopy or parachute shaped armature for orchids to perch on

27 February 2019 It’s a trap!

Weave a trap to keep your floral details suspended in a square container.

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...

3 April 2019 Blossoming like a Caterpillar

Crafting caterpillars from blossoms

19 June 2019 Club together

Last Wednesday I had such a flowery fun evening teaching a collaborative floral carpet workshop focusing on braiding and weaving ideas from my book the effortless floral craftsman...

15 January 2020 This way we connect

Weave a connected panel to frame a single orchid.

19 February 2014 Come on Over

Weave an open foliage flower frog

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.

3 February 2021 here’s the catch

Weave an all natural net to place over a vase to keep your flowers above water.

1 May 2019 Can you see the tiny hint of Sunshine on the tips of the grass?

I left the grass to mature so that the tips mirror the sun bleached yellow of the orchids.