My Creative Workbook

Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

Stacking grass covered pebbles

Pebbles are a great way to weigh down or keep your floral material in place. Here's a way to dress them up a bit

Pick a few pebbles that are easily stacked.

Pick a few pebbles that are easily stacked.

Once the rocks are covered in grass it is a little bit more difficult to stack so make sure the rocks are perfect to start with.

Once the rocks are covered in grass it is a little bit more difficult to stack so make sure the rocks are perfect to start with.

Wrap a blade of grass around the rock like a band and glue

Wrap a blade of grass around the pebble like a band and glue the grass end to the other grass end. Do not glue the grass to the pebble.

These bands makes it easier to interweave the grass to cover the pebbles

These bands makes it easier to interweave the grass to cover the pebbles.

Weave a second blade of grass through the first and glue to secure

Weave a second blade of grass through the first and glue to secure.

Don't be too concerned about the weaving pattern

Don't be too concerned about the weaving pattern. Just weave some blades over and some under to secure the grass.

Start to interweave the grass

Start to interweave the grass. Make sure you cover the glued ends.

Push the firmer stalk end of the grass through the weave

Design tip: Push the firmer stalk end of the grass through the weave. If you want more information about weaving, there is quite a bit more in my book.

... also there is a Tutorial with more instructions below

Follow the pebble shape closely so that it looks neat and can still be stacked

Follow the pebble shape closely so that it looks neat and can still be stacked.

Three interwoven pebbles ready to design with

Three interwoven pebbles ready to design with...

Tap the pebbles to make sure it is secure

Tap the pebbles to make sure it is secure. If the stack topples over try again. This is really important because once you are concentrating on placing the flowers you really don't want to struggle with wobbly pebbles.

Stacked pebbles for floral designs

Stacked pebbles for floral designs.

Fill the container with water

Fill the container with water...

And place the flowers

... And place the flowers

You can read more about bending grasses and flower stems without snapping them in my book.

Just be careful not to knock over the pebbles

Just be careful not to knock over the pebbles!

Finish the design with a few blades of grass that loops and points

Finish the design with a few blades of grass that loops around and points up.

Every week I add a new design with related tutorials. Be sure to subscribe to receive an email notification with design inspiration.

Tutorials

8 June 2011 Foliage Weaving

For this tutorial I focus on a simple weave pattern that does not require you to soften or prepare the leaves to be more durable or flexible. This is the starting point in...

13 March 2019 Interweave an enchanted gift basket

A bit of a planned-messy woven basket that is sturdy enough to carry small items.

20 December 2011 Weaving a gift box with a lid from palm leaves

A great all natural gift decorating alternative

1 October 2012 Weaving a ball shaped Dew-drop Catcher from grass

Weave a sphere from grass

14 January 2015 Weaving Slippers from Foliage

Weave slip on shoes from palm leaves

12 August 2015 Messy edged basket

Weave a loose basket to display flowers

29 May 2019 Taking a break when weaving with grass

When weaving a more labour intensive design you might want to/have to break for a few hours. This is the best way to keep the project from dying out too quickly.

29 May 2019 Weaving and Interweaving for contrast

My block design is shaped around a Styrofoam block. It is bulky but lightweight and a great way to reuse packaging.

Favourite Flowers

Lathyrus

Sweet pea

Related Designs

26 June 2019 “Ok wow”

A design so fine you can easily miss it... if it were not for the interwoven pebbles catching your eye.

29 January 2020 Peekaboo

A light and airy (no floral foam but still long lasting) floral design for those days that you are really, really looking for signs of Spring.

26 February 2020 To top it all off

This is a great "space-keeper" design. The tulip will continue to grow into the vase height as they open... but until then the grass platform part of the design diverts your...

31 March 2021 Criss-crossed

Hide an egg inside a interwoven nest for a dainty Easter decoration design.

6 July 2022 Let’s play ball

Weave a spherical support to place long stemmed flowers into a bud vase.

13 March 2019 How to avoid your wedding treasures from becoming “after the event trash”

My article and grass wedding basket design.

20 December 2011 Our finest gifts we bring,

A small, all natural gift box woven from palm

1 October 2012 How to catch a dew drop:

Weave a sphere from grass to catch a precious and exquisite and perfect glistening early autumn dew drop

16 July 2014 Unraveling fast

Weaving foliage to create a lush water scene

14 January 2015 Take a load off

Weave slippers from foliage

12 August 2015 Catch of the Day

Weave a loose basket to display a single flower... or three

5 April 2017 Easter Bonnet

Weave a delicate Pillbox hat

29 May 2019 Creative Competition

This week I am so excited to share my article and design that was published in the recent issue of the Floral Art Society of New Zealand's Academy Magazine for NZ qualified...