Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman
Protect your “mercury” glass vases with a reusable lining when using wire as a mechanic
- 16 October 2024
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Designing with (new) Mercury glass is complicated. Of course it no longer contains mercury but the surface treatment that makes it so pretty is delicate. It really should be kept dry and it scratches too easily to be used for flower design containers. My solution to design in the pretty glasses comes with a huge “if”.
Being a sustainable floral designer can often feel like a lively game of Whack-A-Mole, don’t you find? The moment you feel you’ve got a hit on a sustainable mechanic a complication or consideration pops up and you need to take another swing at it.
It is, of course, the biggest negative when using wire as a mechanic… wire scratches and rust can damage your containers so that they become so unsightly… and often unusable. Especially if we want to invest in quality… and use it for as long as possible.
Lining the vases creates a barrier. *If* we value sustainability as designers we want to make sure the liner we use is reusable. That means we have to consider durability and adjust our design techniques so that we protect even the protective layer.
For my votive design I am adding small tea light candle to half of the glasses...
The other half of the votives (that I am filling with flowers) needs to be protected from the water and the wire to retain the pretty mercury finish.
I do this by lining the vase with a sturdy and reusable zip lock bag.
The trick is to fold and roll over the slider of the bag in a way that it remains open and create a ledge for the wire mesh mechanic to rest on.
This week in our email I show you how I do this... and I explain a bit more about my complicated relationship with plastic as a sustainable designer on a zero waste journey. I send out an email every Wednesday morning (Vancouver time) the moment the new design is ready to view. You can sign up below this post.
To create the wire grid to keep your flowers securely in place scrunch up some wire...
Gently roll the wire into a bauble between your hands.
The harder you press your hands together the smaller the bauble. I am adding a few decorative wire baubles in the end, and those I roll tightly. But for the mesh just create the shape and...
Press the bauble flat between your fingers...
So that you have a small wire mesh disk.
Design note: fold all the sharp ends into the disk so that it can not damage the lining.
Slip the disk into the lined glass containers...
Book readers turn to page 258 for more wire support inspiration. For more information about my book: The Effortless Floral Craftsman
It will rest securely (see our email for the tip) and you do not need to tape it in place so the lining and the vase will not get damaged and can be used again.
Line and add mesh into the remaining containers.
Pour water into the votives taking care not to spill.
Slip the flowers into the containers so that the stems are supported by the wire mesh.
For my design I treat each votive as an individual design... no two exactly alike. Similar but not identical.
wait... just look... these chrysanthemums are so beautiful!
Add in a few Japanese maple stems.
Roll a few more wire baubles using coloured jewelry wires.
You can find a more detailed Tutorial for rolling wire baubles below this post.
And tuck the tiny wire baubles in and around the designs...
To finish the design off with a bit more autumn sparkle.
And don't forget to light the candles!
End of life: and once the flowers fade... remove the flowers from the votive
Lift out the bag and the wire mesh. Discard the water and wash both with warm water and soap.
Peg a bamboo skewer into foam for a diy drying rack... simply let the bag airdry before using it again.
Your mercury glass votive is still perfectly clean and without a scratch. Wipe the votive with a dry cloth and pack away.
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