Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman
Fold a crab from grass
- 14 June 2023
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Book readers turn to page 369 where I tell you more about these kind of design details... adding something fun or special. Those little touches.
For more information about my book:
The Effortless Floral Craftsman
Gather two blades of grass...
Loop the first blade over.
Thread the second blade through the first
Fold the cut end of this new blade of grass under the first half and over the second towards the back.
Hook this blade of grass behind the back of the knot and bring it forward.
Fold the cut end of the first blade up and over and through the loop at the top.
So that you have two dangling blades of grass on both sides.
Pull the woven knot tighter to shape the crab body.
Go slow to make sure the grass remains unbruised.
Neat little crab shell...
Turn the crab body over
Hold the crab body between your fingers...
And slip your thumb below the blade of grass...
Cut a slit in the grass with a knife or pin...
And slip the opposite blade of grass through the slit.
Pull the grass through the crab body.
Again slip your thumb below the blade of grass but this time from the other side...
Carefully cut a second slit in the grass with a knife or pin.
And pull the blade of grass from the opposite end through to secure the body weave.
Wiggle the grass to pull the weave tight.
Flip the crab body over...
Use a pin to split the grass into four for the crab's walking legs.
Split the grass all the way to the crab body...
And do the same on the other side of the grass crab.
Loop the split grass over...
And give it a knot to shape the walking leg.
Try to knot the legs at the same place
So that they point out and down.
Knot the legs on the other side.
Cut the dangling parts below the knots shorter.
Loop the first blade of gras at the top over...
And knot it to point up for the claw.
Do the same on the other side and cut the grass at a sharp angle.
Use this off cut to craft the eyes. Split the grass into three sections with your pin.
Thread the eye part of the crab through the shell part...
Wrap the grass all the way around the crab body and weave it into the bottom side.
Tuck the end part of the grass into the body to secure.
Fold the middle section of the dangling split grass back over the crab shell to separate the left over two
You can immediately see the crab start to get a bit of a personality
Weave this middle section into the crab body.
Weave the two leftover sections through the blade of grass so the it is on top of the shell....
Give each grass section a knot to shape the eyeballs...
This is the perfect opportunity to give your crab a bit of a personality. Pull the eyeballs to the side so that it peeks around a corner or make it longer or maybe shorter for a shy crab.
Cut away the dangling sections of grass for the eyes.
One last touch for the claws... closed...?
Or give them a cut down the middle to open the claws.
Set your crab in your design.
Design note: I wanted a way to show these gorgeous little sweet peas but they have such short stems. I placed them in a container filled with water and set another container on top of it to keep the stems in place. But for stems this delicate you need a bit of extra care. I explain more in the email this week. You are welcome to reply to the email if you have questions or comments... or to say hi. I am really enjoying hearing from everyone! Thank you for all the lovely chats. The sign up is below this post if you are not yet receiving an email from me on Wednesdays.
But to get you started have a look at the Tutorials below for instructions.
And finish the design with a few dew drop crystals
See the Tutorial below for detailed instructions on how I place my crystals.
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Tutorials
It's sometimes difficult to place a tiny crystal or bead exactly where you want it.
Create a foam free stacked design by slipping flowers between stacked bowls.
Weave grasshoppers or butterflies (or fireflies) from palm leaves
As in… Pussy willow catkins caterpillar… that is super fuzzy.
Weave a spider from lily grass... and reposition it every so often for a creative Halloween twist.
My Chameleon is mono-botanical. Made from coiled grass
Made from dried cherry twigs and a skeleton leaf.
Eerie! Because you use what is there already in the twigs this skeleton looks rather... realistic!
Slip a leaf into the gap between two glass containers to keep it upright... and add a plastic lining to support the flowers nestled into it.
Create a dry layer by placing a smaller vase inside the larger vase
Putting the focus on the flowers with an ever changing design.
Favourite Flowers
Sweet pea
Related Designs
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Stack two vases to create a small gap at the side to keep a leaf upright
Stack a few glass containers and fill each with water to a different level.
Using that little something that is unusual about your flower to make the design stand out.
That good old double vase trick... but this time I deliberately added a bubble between the two layers to create a third circle in the design.