Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman
Booo-tunias levitating in a scary twig armature
- 30 October 2024
- click to send Christine a smile
You will find the detailed Tutorial for the Boootunias below.
Allow a bunch of Japanese maple stems to dry naturally in a vase.
This week in our email I talk to you about drying plant material to add personality and character to it. I send out an email every Wednesday morning (Vancouver time) with a design detail that I want to highlight even before you view the design so that you can notice how I use the technique and get even more out the weekly inspiration. You can sign up for the email below this post.
Groom the branches so that you have only a few perfectly ghastly leaves on it... it is Halloween after all.
I groom the foliage because I am adding delicate design details to the flowers... and when you design in a minimal way every little detail stands out.
Design note: Keep the stems and snip away the leaves right at their base.
Place the first twig over the top of a large container to shape a natural grid to keep your fresh flowers in place.
Add in more stems to shape a wave above the glass container. Hook the fork in the stems over each other and secure with a small drop of hot glue.
Keep the design light and airy so that you can see through and notice the shapes of the deep burgundy foliage.
Hook one stem over the grid twig stem end to point down the side of the container. Carefully position the foliage on the twigs so that the leaves point up to avoid it looking droopy or as if it is wilting.
My autumn armature is ready for some scary flowers...
Pour water into the container to right up to just below where the dried twigs are positioned over the vase. The dried material should remain dry so that you can prevent it from rotting.
Secure the stem to the side of the container with a small drop of hot glue so that the grid twig is stable and balanced and can keep even heavier flower stems suspended in the water.
Place the petunia stems so that it drapes elegantly down the twig armature with the stem ends in the water below so that they remain hydrated.
With the petunia flowers displayed between the foliage and twigs.
See the Tutorial below for detailed instructions on how to make the Booo-tunias for the Halloween design.
Book readers: If you are using flower buds that need a secret water source turn to page 303. It works so well! You can even try this technique when creating body flowers if you want to make sure they do not wilt even on a hot day.
For more information about my book: The Effortless Floral Craftsman
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