Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman
Spiral ripple grass armature that can balance chocolate Easter Eggs
- 1 April 2026
- and more
Start by shaping a snail shell spiral to support your design over the water from sturdy wire.
Place the wire over the opening of your display container.
Fold both ends over the edge of the container so that it rests snugly and can support weight.
Design note: If the design is going to be moved around secure the wire with a tiny drop of hot glue to make sure the wire stays exactly where you need the support.
We start the design by concealing the wire with a blade of grass. Slip the grass under the wire...
Wrap the grass tightly all the way around the opening of the vase and secure it with floral glue.
Glue in a second blade of grass...
But this time wrap the grass so that it wraps up above the edge of the container. We are building the armature to sit above the wire so we need a bit of height around the edge as well.
Roll a blade of grass into a circle and secure it with floral glue.
Roll a slightly bigger circle and secure that on one side over the first...
Keep adding circles to create ripples of grass just like you would if you drop a pebble in still water or do something nice that inspires the recipient to "pass it on".
Place the grass circles on top of the wire.
Adjust the wire and secure the matching grass circle to the wire to conceal the spiral.
Pour water into the container to below the grass ripple armature.
Nestle small Easter eggs to rest securely above the water on the wire.
Design note: Flower buddies, quality control is important when adding Easter eggs! Very important.
Of course I joke but as craftsman we know that using the best materials and equipment is important and it directly impacts the quality, durability, and safety of our designs and how we work.
Book readers turn to page 15 where I talk about how masterful designers set themselves up for creating brilliant designs that look effortless to make. For more information about my book: The Effortless Floral Craftsman
Start the design part by adding oxalis...
Add the delicate Saxifraga flowers using the spiral as support to suspend the blooms above with the stems hydrated in the water below.
Use a pin to place a few dew drop crystals to add sparkle. See the Tutorial below for detailed instructions.
And take a deep breath... the next part is a bit tricky. And! It can spoil the entire design if the vine disturbs the delicate flowers. Feed the stem into the container through the armature.
I am using a Passiflora vine with the foliage stripped off.
And drape the Passiflora vine around the design to give it a hint of a nest shelter for the flowers and Easter eggs.
The tricky part comes in when you view the design from the side. It is so, so delicate and if you do not design with the vine below the waterline with as much care as you design with it above it can easily spoil the design. The vine is also more robust and can knock your delicate plant material out of place so go slow and take care to get the vine... just... so. Make sure to follow the vine line so that the curve continues above and below the water
If you are unsure of how to manipulate a stem to curve in the exact way you want it have a look at the detailed instructions below. You might have to manipulate it before adding.
And trigger the tendrils so that they coil beautifully in your Spring design.
Every Wednesday morning (Vancouver time), I send out a design note as an early glimpse at the newest Design and a few notes that I picked up creating the Tutorial that might be useful to you. This week, I remind you how to trigger tendrils and I explain how to make sure the plant creates even more oversized tendrils that you can design with.
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