Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman
Make a Stuck with an Unstick Stick Maple Seed Spring floral frog… but for a grasshopper pair.
- 21 May 2025
- click to send Christine a smile
Select a contemporary glass container that will add to the light as air dreamlike quality of your floral display.
Attach the clear tape to the inside of the container... I know this is unusual but you will soon see where I am going with this...
Lower the tape over the outside edge of the container...
Smooth the tape to stick to the outside of the container. I made mine just a bit wider than my finger.
Extend the tape all the way over the container with the sticky side up.
Over extend the tape to make sure you can secure it on the opposite side.
Support the tape with your fingers and stick the end to the inside of the container.
Fold the leftover tape that is lifted over to the outside of the container...
... pulling just enough on the tape to keep supporting it without pulling the tape away from the opposite side...
... to smooth the tape over the edge and down the outside to secure.
Making sure the tape is in a neat line over the container with the sticky side facing up.
Do the same from one side to the other...
Neatly crossing the sticky side up tape over the sticky side up tape that crosses over the length of the container.
Before securing the clear tape it on the other side.
Build up a sticky grid over the container to support your floral material.
This week in our email I tell you more about keeping the tape neat and almost invisible when crossing over one tape with another, sticky side up. I send out an email every Wednesday morning (Vancouver time) with a tip so that you can make the most of each week's inspiration design. The sign up is below this post if you are not yet receiving yours.
Pour water between the taped grid gaps to fill the container.
Place your roses into the container to rest on the grid but with the cut stem in the water so that they remain hydrated.
Cut the whirlers (or Japanese maple seeds are also called samaras) with a long stem...
And gently secure the tip of the seed wing to the tape...
... so that the long stem points up to look like it simply glided down and onto the roses.
Secure some of the seeds to the side of the container using the sticky tape grid as support. The seeds will shrivel slightly and dry to a lovely deep burgundy and the stem ends will curl and twist (like the clematis) as it matures standing upright like this without a water source. If you would prefer to keep them hydrated slip the stems through the grid. If you would prefer to design without the stems and rather place the seeds flat on the sticky tape.. yes! I have a Tutorial for how to do that linked below.
Place a burgundy stemmed clematis vine to sweep over to the roses...
... and another vine to sweep over the entire container from one end to the other.
Next I am weaving two grasshoppers from New Zealand flax. You can find the detailed instructions on how to weave the grasshoppers below in the Tutorials.
So that they are comfortably settling into the design for a chat.
Book readers turn to page 389 for more details on how to quickly curl the feelers. It is the section where we talk about doing a little more than you have to, to make your design stand out.
And I am finishing my design with a scatter of dew drop crystals to add sparkle.
See the Tutorial below for the detailed instructions.
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