My Creative Workbook

Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

Securing a kenzan

7 January 2015
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A Kenzan is a pin holder (usually made from metal or plastic embedded in a metal base) invented for Ikebana style of arrangements (Moribana style: "Moru" meaning heaped and "Hana" meaning flowers) to hold the plant material in place

Kneed a small ball of floral fix to make it sticky and plyable

Roll the floral fix in a snake

Connect the two ends

Turn the Kenzan pin side down and place the floral on the flat side

Press the Kenzan down to stick to the shallow design container.

Grasp the Kenzan firmly...

... and while pressing down start to twist...

Because the floral fix is in a dougnut shape at the bottom of the Kenzan it creates a vacuum between the container and the Kenzan

Making it very secure and stable so that it will not come loose from the container

See the Tutorial below for detailed instructions on how to place various sizes of plant material in a Kenzan

See the Tutorial below for another example of how I use the doughnut shaped floral fix trick to secure a candle

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Tutorials

11 December 2013

Temporarily securing a Candle to a Vase

A temporary but very secure way to keep a candle in place in a design

8 October 2014

Replacing water in a shallow container design without disturbing the design elements

Our goal as designers is to create the best environment for our flowers to stay as beautiful and fresh for as long as possible. When we condition flowers we always remove any leaves that will fall below the waterline of the design to prevent the leaves from deteriorating and rotting. Decaying leaves encourages bacterial growth which plugs the vascular system of the flower stems preventing water uptake.

22 May 2012

Filling a vase with water without disturbing the design details

Break the water flow when you fill a vase with details in that can move with the stream of water

14 January 2011

Ripping Flax

Flax can be ripped into fibres creating long and versatile strips

31 July 2024

A cluster bunch of just enough floral ingredients to spike into a Kenzan for a larger display

A larger summer display in a Kenzan

19 June 2024

Stand bark on pointe to display the sweetest sweet peas

Create a natural armature for a summer display

6 September 2023

Peg Sunflowers and Quaking Grass in a Kenzan

An old trick... but still a great one to support thin stems in the needles of a Kenzan.

30 August 2023

Radiating bunny tails

Spear bunny tail grasses into a Kenzan to create a cozy space to display apricot lemonade cosmos flowers.

10 May 2023

Craft a padded wooden Dowel to position a leaf cone into the sharp teeth of a Kenzan

Prevent a leaf from ripping or bruising when positioning it in your design.

1 February 2023

Spiked Tulip Fan

Fanned out Tulips for a snowy winter display... that stays just so.

20 July 2022

Breezy lily grass ripple

A radiating design that has the freedom of movement to add a bit of a cooling effect on the warmer days of summer.

8 June 2022

Eucalyptus leaf and twig blossoms in a radiating puddle of stems

Just look at that puddle! This design is all about the fresh eucalyptus... but in a cooling down for summer kind of way.

25 May 2022

Give a single upright bleeding heart flower a view through a leafy hole

Flair open a leathery leaf to craft a frame a single bleeding heart flower on its long stem.

16 June 2021

Shelter grass veil for a round container

A single lily flower design dressed up with a grass veil.

12 May 2021

A radiating, gradient carnation design in a shallow container

A bit of Kenzan support for a floating shallow container design

14 April 2021

Fuzzy Willow Caterpillar in a buttercup and jasmine vine swirl

As in… Pussy willow catkins caterpillar… that is super fuzzy.

11 November 2020

Kenzan peg bark curls into a hollow and bottomless log vase

Craft a bottomless vase out of bark so that the floral stem is supported but can still stand in water to remain hydrated.

7 August 2019

Where to cut Gladiolus spikes shorter

Gladiolus stems can be cut into sections so that it appears natural and well groomed.

7 August 2019

Use a drinking straw to push foliage horizontally deep into a Kenzan to leave space for stems to rest on top of them

The teeth of a Kenzan (or pin cushion) is rather sharp. Here is a pain free way of pushing down the plant material into the teeth to keep it securely in place.

7 August 2019

A Three level Kenzan skewer stack to Radiate Gladiolus spikes flat in a shallow container

Build up a design in a shallow container by stacking it by threading the plant material into the teeth of a pin cushion in three levels.

12 June 2019

Loop-over grass veil for a cool summer design

A cool and minimal floral design for summer.

17 April 2019

Cross cut Spring Twig Armature

Give a sturdy twig a cut to stay put in your Spring design.

6 December 2017

Barely there twig tabletop Christmas tree

Glue curved twig snippets to craft a delicate winter white Christmas tree

6 December 2017

Fluffy pillow filler tree skirt

The fluffy stuffing found in pillows create beautiful, water repellent tree skirts.

15 November 2017

Kenzan leaf rack

Line and position pretty autumn leaves.

Related Designs

31 July 2024

Have a floral adventure, really

Creating a larger sustainable floral design by clustering the floral details into bunches.

19 June 2024

Do you know what the point is?

A bark armature standing on pointe for some gorgeous blue King Tut sweet peas

6 September 2023

Mother Nature’s little magic to let us know Autumn is near

It's the little sun-washed coloured hints that makes you look again to see if you really saw what you thought you saw... yes! There really are signs of autumn everywhere!