My Creative Workbook

Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

How to skewer foliage tubes for a lily bud swirl support

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

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.

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.

Favourite Flowers

Lilium

Lily

Related Designs

18 May 2022 Because Why

Adding the smallest details to absolutely make the design.

31 May 2017 Let's hang out

Skewer some Eucalyptus to suspend between the orchids

3 July 2019 Taking a Breather

A relaxing summer design that spins gently in the wind

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...

16 April 2014 Never saw such a lovely day...

Weave a palm thorn garland to decorate for Easter