Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman
Weave a grass sphere to keep the long flower stems neatly in place on a bud vase
- 6 July 2022
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Measure the inside circumference (the length of the circle) of your bud vase with a blade of grass.
Roll the blade of grass into a circle, making sure it still fits snugly into the opening of the bud vase...
Secure the circle of grass with glue.
Measure and roll a second grass circle and secure it with glue.
Slip the one circle into the other and secure it with glue.
Slip the end of a blade of grass through the rolled up circle...
Book readers turn to page 186 for a much larger version of this... Perfect for anchoring larger designs.
For more information about my book:
The Effortless Floral Craftsman
But to get you started I have also included a few more Tutorials here below this post.
Bend the grass to follow the curve of the two grass circles
And weave it through to start creating a ball shape.
Add in and weave through a few more blades of grass to create the ball.
Design note: do not weave too tightly, though. Leave slight gaps to make it easy to press the design elements through the ball without damaging it.
Fill the budvase with water.
And fit the grass ball into the opening of your bud vase.
Slip the Dendrobium orchid stem through the grass ball...
Of course the elegant orchid stem is the heaviest design element you are slipping through the ball. Remember to use the weight of the flower as an anchor. I have explained a bit more in this week's email. Make sure you receive the once a week email with your bonus, design specific tip by signing up. The button is below this post.
Thread a few more blades of grass through the ball to extend from one end to the other...
Creating an extension from the orchid stem all the way down to the other side of the bud vase
Thread in another blade of grass from the top...
Loop it into a curve and thread it back up through the ball to keep it in place.
Loop another blade of grass and thread it up into the ball to secure.
Snip the grass ends shorter. My preference, though- you might prefer them longer. Do you prefer them longer?
Add in a few dew drop crystals to finish the design with.
See the Tutorial for How and Why I use a pin to place the crystals.
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Tutorials
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...
Keep all the fresh flower material hydrated in water by weaving the stems from one side of the vase to the other.
Tulips continue to grow as they open. This means you not only have to be mindful of their proportions as they are now... but also as they will be once open.
It's sometimes difficult to place a tiny crystal or bead exactly where you want it.
Easter basket filled with (almost... almost chocolate) anthuriums.
I build up the spheres by weaving willow wreaths and then use those to shape the ball
Keep flowers in place by placing a lemon on the narrow rim of the container.
Craft a dried cane globe for the armature of the design and then add lily grass to dry in place.
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
Give your woven grass a water source by designing the basket in a vase rather than placing the vase in a basket
Zero waste, all natural Easter craft design.
so many techniques rolled into one rather pretty tulip nest. Perfect to celebrate new beginnings: Spring and my book birthday... and my online workshop!
It's sometimes difficult to place a tiny crystal or bead exactly where you want it.
Related Designs
Weave a spherical support to place long stemmed flowers into a bud vase.
A creative way to keep foliage hydrated for a cool, water filled summer design.
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...
Weave a sphere from grass to catch a precious and exquisite and perfect glistening early autumn dew drop
Oncidium orchids hiding in a woven grass cup. This Design Tutorial is featured on The Conna Flower and Garden Club (Ireland) website. It is part of their Floral Art Lessons...
A design so fine you can easily miss it... if it were not for the interwoven pebbles catching your eye.
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.
Hide an egg inside a interwoven nest for a dainty Easter decoration design.
Luxuriously filled design... filled with flowers... filled with grass. But most fun, for us as designers filled with hidden techniques