Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman
Skeletonize Physalis Pods
- 3 September 2014
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The papery pod (sepal) covering the little berry of Chinese lantern plant adds a touch of fantasy to your design. Fresh, the pods are gorgeous, but skeletonized. they add a luxurious lacy quality to your flowers
See the Tutorial below for more information on creating Skeleton Leaves
Line a baking tray, oven tray or casserole dish with baking paper
Measure out 3/4 cup of 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. Measure out two cups and pour it into a saucepan. You will need the rest of the water to top up your leafy-soup as the water boils away.
Measure out two cups of boiling water and pour it into a deep pot. Dissolve 3/4 cup of sodium carbonate. When the mixture reaches boiling point turn the heat down to simmer.
Cut the Physalis Pods from the plant stem
Gently simmer the pods 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.
You now have a delicate skeletonized pod. For my design I reached into the pod and snipped out the dried berry and replaced it with a green bead.
Soak the pod in bleach
Bleached pod
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Tutorials
Remove the pulp from leaves so that only the vain framework remain
Favourite Flowers
Chinese lantern, cape gooseberry, Peruvian cherry, Inca berry
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