My Creative Workbook

Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

How to skewer foliage tubes for a lily bud swirl support

18 May 2022
click to send Christine a smile

Book readers turn to page 320 for a really fun version of skewering leaf tubes. Also in a bud vase... but completely different. Amazing how we can "tweak" a single design technique to create such a variety of designs. For more information about my book: The Effortless Floral Craftsman

Cut a few lily leaves from the stem.

Roll the lily foliage into tubes...

Skewer the leaf tubes with a sharp reed. To keep the leaf perfectly round place a soft stem (such as the lily stem) inside and press the reed into that.

Place the skewered foliage on a water filled container to keep the flowers in place.

I have added a tip on how to stack the buds so that they remain neatly in place in the weekly email. Make sure you are signed up to receive your bonus tip. The sign-up is below this post.

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

Tutorials

22 March 2017

Skewered Foliage Garland

Create a garland that dries well with rolled up leaves

2 July 2019

Grass Spiral Wind Spinner

Thread grass into flexi grass to create a spinner that gently turns in the wind.

17 February 2021

Controlled breaking a thin reed to create a grass spiral armature

Carefully break... but don't snap a reed to create a curved base for a fanned out grass armature.

10 May 2017

Skewered Eucalyptus leaf line-up armature

Thread leaves through wire

24 October 2018

Autumn leaf Christmas tree stack

Stack autumn leaves, from big to small to look like a tiny Christmas tree

28 June 2017

Skewer leaf rolls to support a tiny water source for fresh flowers

Hide the water source in a rolled leaf

27 June 2018

Foliage tube armature for long stemmed freesia buds

Curl and pin a few leaves into a tube to create an armature for those "left over" freesiabuds.

30 October 2013

Spiked Autumn leaf cauldron

Pike a few (hundred!) autumn leaves to build up a hollow leaf armature

17 June 2020

Reusable Table Top Lei Armature

An easy to do, budget friendly, craft ahead- use many times floral armature.

29 June 2011

Twig Zipper

I wanted my Zipper to be "edgy" rather than "peaceful", so using bamboo or reeds or willow would not be appropriate.

Related Designs

31 May 2017

Let's hang out

Skewer some Eucalyptus to suspend between the orchids

17 February 2021

From here in out

An all natural, zero waste design using only plant material.

10 May 2017

About a line

Skewer and line up leaves to create an armature

24 October 2018

It all stacks up

Quick and easy: Stack autumn leaves onto a wire for a... tiny table top Christmas tree.

28 June 2017

Somewhere in the Middle

Skewer Dracaena leaves into a roll that supports a tiny water source for the Oncidium orchids

27 June 2018

Look deep

Curl foliage to use as a natural armature for delicate buds.

30 October 2013

As the leaves melt away

Spike a few hundred fall leaves to create a cauldron for Halloween flowers

17 June 2020

Lei-way

Allow for a bit of variation by crafting a sturdy armature.

21 June 2011

WAFA 10th International Flower Show in Boston USA: This Glorious Earth

I wove my Zipper from just over 300 short, dried rose twigs with tiny thorns on them. The delicate "fabric" at the back of the design is woven rose bush roots. Aranthera and Aranda orchids in tiny test tubes covered with rose stem bark are placed in the Zipper design.

16 April 2014

Never saw such a lovely day...

Weave a palm thorn garland to decorate for Easter

18 May 2022

Because Why

Adding the smallest details to absolutely make the design.

Favourite Flowers

Lilium

A Rock by any other name, lily design