My Creative Workbook

Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

Skeleton Hydrangeas

Hydrangeas dry really well and make the most perfect skeleton petals.

I used the same technique as I use to make skeleton leaves. See the Tutorial below for more information on creating Skeleton Leaves

Line an oven tray or casserole dish with baking paper.

Line an oven tray or casserole dish with baking paper.

Measure out 3/4 cup of the baking soda.

Measure out 3/4 cup of the baking soda.

Bake the Baking Soda

Bake the Baking Soda in an oven at 200'C for 30 minutes. This turns the Baking Soda (sodium bicarbonate) into Washing Soda (sodium carbonate)

Make sure you are extra careful when using Washing Soda. It has a pH of 11 so wear protective gloves and glasses to avoid skin or eye irritation.

Boil a full kettle of water

Boil a full kettle of water. Measure out two cups and pour it into a saucepan. You will need the rest of the water to top up your petal-soup as the water boils away.

Dissolve the sodium carbonate.

Dissolve the sodium carbonate. When the mixture reaches boiling point turn the heat down to simmer.

Snip away a few flowers from the mop head

Snip away a few flowers from the mop head

I choose the more mature petals to make skeleton flowers with

I choose the more mature petals to make skeleton flowers with

Gently simmer the petal soup for an hour and a half to two hours.

Gently simmer the petal soup for an hour and a half to two hours. Top up the water level as the water evaporates.

When you notice the flesh starts to become soft and float away from the veins, lift the leaf out of the water with a spatula or the back of a large spoon and rinse in cold water.

Place the hydrangea petals on a smooth flat surface

Place the hydrangea petals on a smooth flat surface and smooth any creases away with a brush.

"Paint" the leaf with water and start to brush away the fleshy pulp.

"Paint" the leaf with water and start to brush away the fleshy pulp.

A batch of skeleton hydrangea petals, ready to design with

Let the skeleton hydrangea petals dry completely before picking it up

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Tutorials

22 September 2012 Skeleton Leaves

Remove the pulp from leaves so that only the vain framework remain

6 September 2011 Autumn leaf Roses

I used to make baskets full of these when I was a little girl. We had a big Acasia thorn tree and I used to spear my “roses” onto the tree pretending I was the fairy responsible...

24 August 2011 Stain wooden skewers with natural dye

Using fruit, berries, flowers, leaves and grasses to naturally stain design details for floral art relies on the same techniques as using paint or any other dye.

28 February 2011 Paper flowers

You can use any type of paper to make flowers. I use tissue paper, Crêpe paper, cardboard, newsprint and coffee filters (new and used) to make sweet peas, carnations, paper...

28 August 2013 Unravel Sisal string to get Sisal Fibers

I purchase a huge roll of sisal string to use... sometimes as string, but mostly I unravel it for the fibers

3 September 2014 Skeletonize Physalis Pods

Remove the pulp from the papery pod (sepal) covering the little berry of Chinese lantern plant so that only the vain framework remain

8 October 2011 Roll spiral blossoms

Cut leaves and petals and roll a spiral blossom

25 September 2013 Make a Phalaenopsis Orchid from autumn leaves

Fall leaf craft

Related Designs

26 August 2015 Bent

Weave a wreath from sweetpea stems and tendrils

21 June 2017 Playing Favourites

A quick and easy Kenzan design

25 October 2017 When the pretty eyeballs you back!

Barely there skeleton blossoms with Eucalyptus eyes for my Halloween design... Oh! and a Willow Paddle, which probably should have been the main Tutorial... but... well...

25 March 2020 How to lay a little bit low

A flat-lay to celebrate finally finding the perfect way to dry passion fruit flowers... and my book's first birthday but mostly the drying of passion fruit flowers thing.