Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman
Interweave a dangling Egg outline Easter Wreath Basket
- 5 April 2023
- click to send Christine a smile
Shape your wire into a large egg...
Cover the wire with florist tape.
Reshape the wire to make sure you have a traditional egg shape so that the grass you interweave can simply follow this outline.
Twirl a wire around the top half of the egg shape to create a loop to hang the wreath from
The exaggerated gaps in this twirled wire makes it easier to secure the grass.
Slip an end of a blade of grass through the wire twirl and extend the grass around the egg shape
I have a tip for you about weaving with grass that I wanted to show you up close. You can read more about it in our email this week. You are welcome to reply to the email if you have a comment or question... or to say hi. If you are not yet receiving your weekly email the sign up is below this post.
Add in the next blade of grass from the opposite side to end at the previous starting point.
And so you continue weaving in blades of grass...
Slipping in the blades of grass to overlap... one this way and the next one that way.
At first concentrate on concealing the guide wires...
... And then add in a few blades of grass to make it look pretty.
Hang the wreath to finish the design.
Glue in a few eggs.
You can use chocolate eggs or simply blow out the egg from the shell. Prick small holes on either side of the egg and gently blow out the egg. Rinse the egg shells with water.
Weave in a few more blades of grass to nestle the eggs so that they are in the nest and not on top of the nest.
Design note: always make sure everything you add into a design looks like it wants to be there.
Curl the softer tips of the blades of grass.
You can find a detailed Tutorial of how to curl grass below.
Book readers turn to page 288. This is an advanced way of curling grass. make sure you are gentle... but the curl is so much prettier!
For more information about my book:
The Effortless Floral Craftsman
Continue to weave and curl grass to complete the nest wreath.
Glue in water tubes for the fresh flowers and vines.
A tiny water tube is all you need to keep the flowers hydrated. I make my tubes from... tubes. See the Tutorial below for more detailed instructions.
Fill the tubes...
... and the eggshell with water.
I modify a syringe to fill any small container with water... even at an awkward angle. See the Tutorial below for more details.
Place a few jasmine vines in the water tubes.
Add in the bleeding heart flowers.
And if you have any short stem flowers add them so that the flowers can remain hydrated by the water in the eggshell.
Place a few jasmine leaves into the water to conceal the water tubes.
Add a few dew drop crystals to finish the design.
I use a pin to place these crystals so that I can control where they land... and in no way damage the delicate floral details. If you want more detailed instructions on how I do this... see the Tutorial below.
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Tutorials
When you need to keep a tiny stem hydrated this is just what you need. If you can't find a suitable drinking straw... I also have an upgrade: tiny food grade pipe water tubes.
For this tutorial I focus on a simple weave pattern that does not require you to soften or prepare the leaves to be more durable or flexible. This is the starting point in...
It's sometimes difficult to place a tiny crystal or bead exactly where you want it.
Most leaves and foliage can be slightly manipulated to curve or curl.
Zero waste, all natural Easter craft design.
Weave a tiny nest with a twig hook so that you can hang it in a design
Grow wheatgrass to create a Spring patch of green for your mini Easter egg hunt.
This is the basic technique used in traditional Easter crafts to plait a crown of thorns.
Pierce eggshells to string it up for a delicate Spring design element.
An almost nest like design with a hidden water source.
Easy way to fill test tubes and easiest way to remove water from a vase
Give your woven grass a water source by designing the basket in a vase rather than placing the vase in a basket
My block design is shaped around a Styrofoam block. It is bulky but lightweight and a great way to reuse packaging.
When weaving a more labour intensive design you might want to/have to break for a few hours. This is the best way to keep the project from dying out too quickly.
Use the "over and under" weaving pattern to weave a round, upright hat with a flat top and no brim.
Weave a canopy or parachute shaped armature in a way that you can place the stems in two vases to keep it hydrated.
Wrap grass around a flat wire shape to create a delicate bridal basket design
so many techniques rolled into one rather pretty tulip nest. Perfect to celebrate new beginnings: Spring and my book birthday... and my online workshop!
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