My Creative Workbook

Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

Love Bug

It is February and the month of love. I couldn't resist adding a tiny little love bug to my design

I used pine as the head and body of my love bug.

Two dried pine needles curl as the feelers.

I used hazel to balance my bug on twiggy legs.

Next the love bug gets seeded Eucalyptus eyes and a heart shaped rosary vine (ceropegia woodii) body

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Tutorials
Twig and skeleton leaf Stick Insect
29 September 2011
Twig and skeleton leaf Stick Insect

Made from dried cherry twigs and a skeleton leaf.
Palm leaf Hopper-flies (grasshoppers and butterflies)
5 January 2011
Palm leaf Hopper-flies (grasshoppers and butterflies)

Weave grasshoppers or butterflies (or fireflies) from palm leaves
Weaving a bird
21 July 2011
Weaving a bird

I wove my bird from shaved wood but you can also use flax, coconut palm (more traditional) or paper or ribbon
Have your heart set on it armature for Valentines Day
12 February 2025
Have your heart set on it armature for Valentines Day

A prepare ahead armature design that relies on the strength of a heart shape.
Booo-tunias
30 October 2024
Booo-tunias

A fun design trick for a Halloween display treat.
Booo-tunias levitating in a scary twig armature
30 October 2024
Booo-tunias levitating in a scary twig armature

Craft a stable dried autumn armature to keep petunia stems suspended in water at the top of a container.
Craft a birch bark bud vase topper for a openhearted Valentine's display
14 February 2024
Craft a birch bark bud vase topper for a openhearted Valentine's display

Craft a keepsake heart on top of a vase to display special flowers.
Blossom Twig Heart Frame… with a twist in the middle
15 February 2023
Blossom Twig Heart Frame… with a twist in the middle

Curve and tie a blossoming twig into a heart... that can suspend a heavy flower head.
Float a swirling vine nest in a small vase to help keep your flowers in place
10 February 2021
Float a swirling vine nest in a small vase to help keep your flowers in place

Turn a flower vase into a bud vase by floating a smaller container inside the larger one.
Bat Skeleton crafted from twigs
30 October 2019
Bat Skeleton crafted from twigs

Eerie! Because you use what is there already in the twigs this skeleton looks rather... realistic!
Dried Blossom Caterpillar
3 April 2019
Dried Blossom Caterpillar

Craft a pretty little critter by threading dried blossoms onto a wire.
Willow and Rose heart armature
13 February 2019
Willow and Rose heart armature

Weave willow stems into a heart shaped armature.
Spider-mum
31 October 2018
Spider-mum

Craft a spider from twigs and a chrysanthemum
Peg and glue a floating Halloween design
31 October 2018
Peg and glue a floating Halloween design

A hovering Halloween design that seems to float.
Wire two Equisetum shoots into a heart
14 February 2018
Wire two Equisetum shoots into a heart

A wire in the hollow cavity inside a shoot of equisetum makes it easy to manipulate into a heart
Physalis Pod Stick-man
31 October 2017
Physalis Pod Stick-man

Glue twigs into a stick man for a Halloween design
A Sprouting Spring Twig Heart
8 February 2017
A Sprouting Spring Twig Heart

Carefully glue a twig armature to display the mini-miniature Darling orchids
Zig zag Palm Dragonfly
17 June 2015
Zig zag Palm Dragonfly

Fold a dragonfly from a long strand of grass or palm leaf
Guacamole Green Coiled Grass Chameleon
17 July 2012
Guacamole Green Coiled Grass Chameleon

My Chameleon is mono-botanical. Made from coiled grass
Related Designs
A tendril Valentine connection
12 February 2025
A tendril Valentine connection

A delicate... but robust armature framing a heart space.
Those B00OOOoootunias though!
30 October 2024
Those B00OOOoootunias though!

Add something dark and suspicious to your petunias for a fun Halloween display
Spoiler Alert: It’s You
14 February 2024
Spoiler Alert: It’s You

A birch bark heart for Valentine's Day
If you frame it that way…
15 February 2023
If you frame it that way…

A blossom frame to display the prettiest anthurium of the whole bunch!
My valenVine
10 February 2021
My valenVine

An... everything is moving... design. The tulips are growing and the small vine filled vase is bopping around in the water. And if you lean them against each other just right it grows and bobs in place!
There once was a bat called Tequila, a Halloween story
30 October 2019
There once was a bat called Tequila, a Halloween story

An all plant zero waste, levitating, twig (with just a splatter of autumn leaves, a breath of spiderweb and float of roots) Halloween decoration with an eerie bat skeleton made from twigs lurking just over there.
Blossoming like a Caterpillar
3 April 2019
Blossoming like a Caterpillar

Crafting caterpillars from blossoms
Pick Love
13 February 2019
Pick Love

Craft a willow heart to display 12 red roses to celebrate Valentine's Day.
Scary stuff!
31 October 2018
Scary stuff!

My Halloween design... with some scary stuff hidden if you can read between the leaves!
March Days
28 February 2018
March Days

Line up a few frosted twigs to march across a shallow container
Two Are
14 February 2018
Two Are

Equisetum Valentine's hearts
Mr Twig-or-cheat
31 October 2017
Mr Twig-or-cheat

An extra Almost-a-Design for Halloween this year
Playing Favourites
21 June 2017
Playing Favourites

A quick and easy Kenzan design
It could hold
8 February 2017
It could hold

A fragile looking heart made from twigs that can hold a lot of orchids
A lots of stuff and things
20 January 2016
A lots of stuff and things

Sticks and twigs create a resting spot for palm and rose butterflies
Steeling yourself against stealing creativity
1 February 2012
Steeling yourself against stealing creativity

I wrote this article for Wedding Business Success (an online meeting place for the wedding industry) exploring a positive way of looking at creativity and... stealing!