My Creative Workbook

Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

Tangle a perfect vine around two wreaths for a split armature

19 August 2020
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Weave two small wreaths.

Remove the foliage from a vine.

Place the vine in a bud vase filled with water.

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Thread the vine through the first wreath so that it extends to the other side.

Place the other wreath on the opposite side of the vase.

Design note: You are basically making a wreath sandwich... with the vine in the middle.

Carefully curve the vine and slip it through both the wreaths...

Pull the vine all the way through to wind it around the wreaths...

Carefully curve the vine over the wreaths and again wind it through the wreath...

Wind the vine around the opening of the vase...

And around the other side so that the wreath rests on the vase and are held in place by the fresh vine.

Continue to wind the vine around the two wreaths. Take care not to break off any flower buds or tendrils.

Design note: with any luck this vine will even root... if you keep topping up the water.

Make sure the tendrils are twirling freely and reposition any tendril so that they look healthy and flourishing.

Finish the design with a few dew drop crystals

Book readers: Turn to page 378 for a larger version of this design. Did you notice the floating crystals. On page 379 you can see how I did that.

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Tutorials

19 February 2013

Manipulating stems: Snapping at an angle, Bending, Spiraling, Curling and Straightening

Most stems, twigs and even sturdier branches can be bend into shapes. It takes practice and more than a bit of patience. The main idea is to slowly manipulate the branch without breaking it.

1 November 2011

Weaving a twig wreath

For my design I wanted the wreath to look wind blown so I added a few loosely woven twigs into the weave. I also wanted to emphasize the autumn colours so I added a twirling copper wire into the weave

25 March 2020

Finally! I found a perfect way to perfectly preserve a perfect passion fruit flower.

Yay everyone! I found the absolute best way to preserve passion fruit flowers. Here it is: how to dry flowers using Silica Gel.

10 June 2020

Overgrown vine tangle to suspend flowers in a clear vase

A zero waste and sustainable floral design solution to keep your flowers exactly where you want them without using floral foam.

8 July 2015

Using a pin to place tiny dew drop crystals

It's sometimes difficult to place a tiny crystal or bead exactly where you want it.

4 May 2016

Loosened Wreath Armature

Snip a dried twig wreath to undo the spirals to hang around a glass container

24 May 2017

Chain link wreath weaving

Weave a few small wreaths to connect

18 April 2018

Clematis Vine Swing

Weave a delicate nest for a small spring design.

5 September 2018

Wisteria Wreath Vine

Weave tiny vine wreaths on the leave stems of a stripped Wisteria vine

11 September 2019

Weave a small wreath in the side twig of a willow branch to keep a flower in place in your design

This is both a decorative and functional design solution. But most importantly, I think, there is absolutely zero waste.

25 February 2015

Balancing a Twirled Willow Armature

Twirl twigs to create a balanced nest to display the beautiful orchids on

18 September 2024

Controlled chaos straw and dried foliage armature

Craft a straw covered wire grid to slip over display containers for a foam free floral display that is light and airy... just like it grown in the field.

2 August 2023

Tangle a wild wide web of Jasmine vine to suspend your flowers

My summer design strategy: the warmer the weather the deeper the water. A vine frog is just the thing!

23 June 2021

Submerged vine wreath armature to beat the summer heat

Water... lots of water- that is the answer to designing flower arrangements that survive the summer heat.

7 April 2021

Spring breeze tangled ribbon wreath

Using branches pruned from a fruit tree... with a few dried flowers and just a few orchids to make a fresh Spring design.

16 September 2020

Peg a wreath to the edge of a container

Another version of a design idea I showed you last month... A vine wreath armature to balance a dramatic single stem anthurium. Only this time I take it a bit further.

Related Designs