Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman
Bundled together to create a naturalistic looseness that appears to be light as air
- 27 May 2026
For this budvase design we are using the good old double vase design trick... but with a tiny twist to make it special.
Make sure the water tube is exactly the same height as the budvase so that it becomes invisible.
Book readers turn to page 141 all the way to 169 where I discuss why it is a well worth investment collecting different sized glass containers (why glass is more versatile than any other type of container) and I show you in detail how to use the good old double vase trick for your designs.
For more information about my book: The Effortless Floral Craftsman
... but to get you started I also have a beginner Tutorial for you below this post.
Harvest a neat bundle of quaking grass.
Design note: if you have not yet quickly read through our design note email before grooming the grass. You will get a tip that will help you support your design details that will level up your entire design. And we design this in here... even while conditioning and grooming the grass.
Every Wednesday morning (Vancouver time), I send out a design note as an early glimpse at the newest Design and a few notes that I picked up creating the Tutorial that might be useful to you.
If you’re new here, you can sign up below this post. And if you’ve been receiving these notes for some time, I hope they feel like a welcome break in your busy week.
Arrange the grass bundle (this is where you add your twist. Would you like the bundle of grass to be tamed or wild? Groomed and minimal? Or maybe you want them all cut to the same level...) and then place it to fit tightly into the water tube.
For my design I neatly arranged each stem (taming these wildly sticky-outy stems) by twisting it so it falls into a tight bundle.
Groom two purple bell vines by cleaning and snipping away anything you might not want in the design. Remember it is a minimal design so there is no place to hide imperfections.
One vine drapes up and around towards the quaking grass flowers and the other drapes down and around the water tube.
Hold the vine in place around the water tube and gently lower it into the budvase.
Allowing it to slowly settle in the vase. Take care here not to set the water tube on the tip of the vine. I find "stirring" the tube as I settled it inside the bud vase release the tip without constraining the vine.
Make sure the very tip of the vine extends a bit beyond the grasses to give the design that "uplifting" and light airy feeling. If it sags or droops it will pull down your entire design so careful designing is needed at the very tip.
And I finish off my design with a few dew drop crystals on the purple bell vine and foliage to highlight their delicate beauty.
See the Tutorial below for more detailed instructions on how to add the crystals on such delicate floral details without damaging the petals or leaves.
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.
