Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman
Just hatched willow twig egg armature
- 16 April 2025
- click to send Christine a smile
I use dried wreaths to weave the egg shaped armature.
For detailed instructions on how to weave a wreath see the Tutorial below.
Slip the one wreath over the other to create an "x" shape.
Fit this shape on to another wreath to create a base. Secure the wreaths with wire.
Start to weave in fresh willow twigs from the one end...
Around the base and out the other end.
Weave in another twig next to that... in from the one side, round the base and out on the other side.
You need three willow twigs to wrap through in this direction.
Turn the egg basket and weave in the next willow stem to cross over and under those twigs.
Again you need three stems from this direction to shape the base of the basket.
If you want the basket to sit upright pull the willow stems tight so that the egg shape rest on the bottom wreath. But I wanted my design to sit at a jaunty angle... so...
Carefully adjust the weave so that the overlapping fresh willow stems create a new and balanced base for the armature to rest on when placed at the angle you want for the design.
This week I share with you a few notes and a trick to make it easier to dry the twigs at the exact angle you want for your design in our email. I send out an email every Wednesday morning (Vancouver time) the moment the design is ready for you to view with a design note that will help you make the most out of the week's design inspiration. The sign up is below this post.
Adjust all the stems to create an open cup egg shape while the stems are still fresh and easy to manipulate...
Book readers turn to page 284 for more detailed instructions on how to manipulate stems for crafting armatures. For more information about my book: The Effortless Floral Craftsman
Add your own touch to the design by cutting the stem ends of the egg shaped willow Easter basket or you can even weave them in and around the egg or shape a basket handle (see the Tutorial below) or let them dangle... whatever design you want to create. And set the egg shape aside to dry so that you have a strong armature before adding the heavier chocolate eggs and floral details.
For my design I chose to take the longest dangling willow twigs and weave them around the opening.
Add in a few dew drop crystals to the dried armature so that you can layer the flowers over them.
Carefully glue in clusters of Kalanchoe flowers to sit like blossoms on the willow egg.
No need for a water source. These succulent flowers look delicate but will look pretty from now all the way to after Easter without any water at all.
Place flower clusters all the way around, inside and out of the egg shape.
Glue the cut end of a long rosary vine into a cluster of flowers...
And weave the vine throughout the egg shaped basket.
Just like the flowers these vines are also succulents and need no water source. You can read more about them below in the links.
Carefully hide a few delicate chocolate Easter eggs in the design...
So that the Easter eggs can be discovered...
... between the delicate flowers.
And finish the design with a pretty bow... if you want to.
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