My Creative Workbook

Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

Interweave a dangling Egg outline Easter Wreath Basket

Shape your wire into a large egg

Shape your wire into a large egg...

Cover the wire with florist tape

Cover the wire with florist tape.

Reshape the wire to make sure you have a traditional egg shape

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

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

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

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

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.

And so you continue weaving in blades of grass...

Slipping in the blades of grass to overlap

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

At first concentrate on concealing the guide wires...

And then add in a few blades of grass to make it look pretty

... And then add in a few blades of grass to make it look pretty.

Hang the wreath to finish the design

Hang the wreath to finish the design.

Glue in a few eggs

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

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 leftover blades of grass

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

Continue to weave and curl grass to complete the nest wreath.

Glue in water tubes for the fresh flowers and vines

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 with water

Fill the tubes...

Fill the eggshell with water

... 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

Place a few jasmine vines in the water tubes.

Add in the bleeding heart flowers

Add in the bleeding heart flowers.

And add in any flowers you want to keep hydrated in the eggshell

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 to conceal the water tubes

Place a few jasmine leaves into the water to conceal the water tubes.

Add a few dew drop crystals to finish the design

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.

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

Tutorials

4 January 2011 Drinking straw "test tubes"

When you need to keep a tiny stem hydrated this is just what you need.

8 June 2011 Foliage Weaving

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...

8 July 2015 Using a pin to place tiny dew drop crystals

It's sometimes difficult to place a tiny crystal or bead exactly where you want it.

15 April 2015 Stretching leaves and foliage into a ringlet curl

Most leaves and foliage can be slightly manipulated to curve or curl.

31 March 2021 Interweave a criss-crossed nest for an Easter Egg

Zero waste, all natural Easter craft design.

11 April 2017 A little nest for Easter chocolates that naturally hooks over the edge of a container

Weave a tiny nest with a twig hook so that you can hang it in a design

29 March 2023 Grow a wheatgrass patch for an almost entirely edible Easter display

Grow wheatgrass to create a Spring patch of green for your mini Easter egg hunt.

30 May 2012 Plaiting a palm thorn garland

This is the basic technique used in traditional Easter crafts to plait a crown of thorns.

20 March 2019 Hanging dangling eggshells with a twig and some ripped grass

Pierce eggshells to string it up for a delicate Spring design element.

27 March 2019 An eggshell stack and grass snippet arch with a hidden water source for a Spring or Easter design

An almost nest like design with a hidden water source.

8 April 2020 Basket weave in an eggshell

A tiny little basket weave to add to an Easter Design

3 January 2011 Syringe with tube

Easy way to fill test tubes and easiest way to remove water from a vase

29 January 2020 Weave a long lasting (without using floral foam) in a vase floral design basket

Give your woven grass a water source by designing the basket in a vase rather than placing the vase in a basket

29 May 2019 Weaving and Interweaving for contrast

My block design is shaped around a Styrofoam block. It is bulky but lightweight and a great way to reuse packaging.

29 May 2019 Taking a break when weaving with grass

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.

5 April 2017 Weaving a Pillbox hat from grass

Use the "over and under" weaving pattern to weave a round, upright hat with a flat top and no brim.

13 July 2016 Woven lily grass parachute armature

Weave a canopy or parachute shaped armature in a way that you can place the stems in two vases to keep it hydrated.

1 October 2012 Weaving a ball shaped Dew-drop Catcher from grass

Weave a sphere from grass

7 December 2016 Flat wire and grass bridal basket

Wrap grass around a flat wire shape to create a delicate bridal basket design

23 March 2022 A Double vase, Sticky tape, Reflexed AND Woven Nestled Grass and Tulip Whirl

so many techniques rolled into one rather pretty tulip nest. Perfect to celebrate new beginnings: Spring and my book birthday... and my online workshop!

Related Designs

5 April 2023 Where do you even start looking?

Easter egg... egg for Easter eggs

27 March 2024 Twiners Gonna Twine

Twining jasmine vine twirl for Easter

1 May 2024 Favourite Take-Away

Basket weave container for some Spring floral treasures.

31 March 2021 Criss-crossed

Hide an egg inside a interwoven nest for a dainty Easter decoration design.

11 April 2017 Well… we did it again!

Blossoms and chocolates for Easter

29 March 2023 To grow a patch of grass of our very own

The first of my new monthly articles about growing the material you need to design with. This month we are taking stock of what we need... and growing wheatgrass.

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

Weave a palm thorn garland to decorate for Easter

20 March 2019 It’s all ===> right

Hang a dangling eggshell in a Spring blossom design.

27 March 2019 Like trying to find a water tube in a eggshell stack

A fun Spring and Easter design with stacked eggshells.

8 April 2020 Don’t put all your Baskets in one Egg

A bit of a wrong way round pretty Easter design. Put the basket weave inside the egg instead of putting the eggs in a basket.

29 January 2020 Peekaboo

A light and airy (no floral foam but still long lasting) floral design for those days that you are really, really looking for signs of Spring.

29 May 2019 Creative Competition

This week I am so excited to share my article and design that was published in the recent issue of the Floral Art Society of New Zealand's Academy Magazine for NZ qualified...

5 April 2017 Easter Bonnet

Weave a delicate Pillbox hat

13 July 2016 Woven

Weave a canopy or parachute shaped armature for orchids to perch on

1 October 2012 How to catch a dew drop:

Weave a sphere from grass to catch a precious and exquisite and perfect glistening early autumn dew drop

13 March 2019 How to avoid your wedding treasures from becoming “after the event trash”

My article and grass wedding basket design.

7 December 2016 Oh! So clever

My article and Bridal basket design featured in DIY Weddings Magazine

23 March 2022 Chockablock!

Luxuriously filled design... filled with flowers... filled with grass. But most fun, for us as designers filled with hidden techniques